Final Fantasy:Crossroads Of Destiny PART II
by Loneflame
Summary: Following a cruel turn of events, Sifan Leonhart learns to stand the test of fate in his new world dominated by the New ShinRa. A story based on the theme of love, betrayal and friendship. Part II of my FFCOD trilogy. Second generation FF7FF8 crossover
1. PROLOGUE

**_Prologue   
_**  
They say that history has this irritating habit of repeating itself, triggered by some strange paradox or another, but most of the time it has its roots in the word 'consequence'. Everything that we see, hear and do is of course, a mere consequence of something. The present is the consequence of the past and the future, an imminent corollary of the present. One can probably define any instant of time as an outcome of another. And yet, in this long and seemingly infinite chain of consequences, fate still knew where to show it's sadistic, twisted will. It still controlled everything despite all that traversed through the sands of time. Destiny isn't always kind but it knew when to be despicably evil and when to play God. And it was this double-sided face of destiny, that balanced the good and the evil, the light and the dark, the rich and the poor, and wise and the foolish. To strike this equilibrium, fate would even stretch far across infinity to bring the good to balance the evil or the evil to balance the good.  
  
The eyes of fate fell on the mako world... the dimension of the life stream... there was no true good or evil... there was no true peace or war... there was no proportion... and it's situations like these where they say, like one big hobby, destiny brought upon the world, both evil and good....  
  
But what if.... even in the infinite grasp of destiny, there was no evil to be brought into being? Where would destiny go when there was no evil to be found, at any end of the universe? It would search the tides of time, and regenerate an evil once slewed by good... it would breathe new life into it.... And then... what if there was no good to be found? To face this evil.... What then? Once again, it would reach across dimensions... across worlds, to fetch the force to balance the evil it brought on its own...  
  
And it were the souls that were chosen for this cruel game of destiny, both evil and good, who were named as the 'Children of Fate...'  
  
They were scattered across dimensions, across worlds and across time... but they say that when it was time for Destiny to fulfill its purpose, the Children of Fate will be brought together...  
  
_... At the Crossroads of Destiny....._

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A/N: For those who are reading this for the first time and have never heard of this fic, you might want to give it a try. The first part of the trilogy can be found by clicking on my author profile. Proceeding with this part without reading the first one will make no sense. Please review and let me know how many people out there are investing their time in this fiction. I plan to allot separate time for this in the middle of all my academic madness, so I wanna be sure it's worth the effort. That's about it. And please recommend this story to others by checking the option in your review window. Thank you. I ll have your update just as soon as I know that all my previous readers have hooked on to this as well...  
Adios... 


	2. CHAPTER 1

* * *

Chapter 1

"Uh...name...."

"What...?"

"My name.... What's my name...?"

"Shhh... It's ok.... you're hurt... you'll take time to remember..."

His blurry eyesight sharpened gradually as the wooden ceiling became visible. He slowly sat up on his bed, a bit of pain lingering at the side of his head. Beside him, on a stilted rocking chair was an elderly woman, busy grinding a few leaves on a clay bowl. She gave him a wrinkled smile.

He didn't smile back, "What... where.... Am I....?"

"Now now dear..." the woman emptied some water into the bowl and continued grinding, "They found you unconscious on the plains... and it seems you're under a memory loss... take this and you should get it back in no time..."

The lady offered the less-than-alluring liquid to him. He looked at it skeptically for a minute and then emptied it into his mouth in a quick draught. The taste sent ripples through his head but oblivion still remained. His memory was still non-existent. Only the pain seemed to be leaving his head.

"Of course, sonny, it will take time, you know...." The woman reassured, standing up, "You should maybe look around our village if you can't sleep..."

She smiled and soon exited the hut as he lazily got up from his bed. Feeling like a toddler learning to walk, he shakily made his way to the large mirror across the room and stared quietly at his reflection.

Silver hair stretched down either sides of his head, a couple of long ones falling in front of his light green eyes. His sharp, distinctive eyebrows looked calm despite the empty memory. A faint mark at the side of his upper arm caught his attention. He looked to his side, sharpening his vision on the black lettering embedded on his skin.

SOLDIER ID: 3567342 SEPHIROTH

"Sephiroth...." He whispered quietly to himself, ".... My name... is... Sephiroth...."

A violent pang of hurt suddenly stormed his brain as he staggered back with pain, clenching his teeth. A minute later, it left him as suddenly as it had entered.

Much to his dismay, that was all he remembered.

"Sephiroth..." he repeated to himself calmly as walked out of the hut into the rest of Gondola Village where a tired Relafen Almasy was searching for the container he had lost during the airship race.

"The rules are simple..." the loudspeaker over the battle square reception crackled, "You will be pitted against each other based on lots, the survivors face off eventually against each other till two of em' are left... and that will be the final battle.... For the grand prize... the alloy of the cursed..."

At that point, the competitors outside broke into 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. Like Setzin had emphasized, it WAS a big deal. But Setzin had repeatedly told Sifan that the whole idea of getting the young SeeD involved in the competition was to take his mind of his world-gone-crazy. Sifan surveyed the other competitors, or rather, his would-be opponents. Most of them were over 6 feet tall, with broad figures and frightening weapons. Some looked death-serious while others looked like they were lined up for a circus.

"I'll take care of registering us..." Setzin mumbled to the young Leonhart, "You go outside and get yourself ready..."

"US?" the brown-haired boy raised an eyebrow.

Setzin grunted, "Why not...?"

"Whatever...." He muttered and walked away towards the dressing room, passing a tall warrior who was busy doing warm-up exercises. He shut the door behind him and reached into his coat pocket. He emptied the materia on to the table and unsheathed his gunblade in order to equip it with the magic stones. His eyes fell on the 'cure' materia and at once, he slipped them into his gunblade slot. After thinking a while, he reached for the red shiny materia of the dragon God, Bahamut. He fixed it into his weapon and soon enough, he felt Bahamut's presence slip into the back of his mind. He unlinked his belt, and started to remove silver-bullets looped in them. Just as he was about to insert the first one onto the revolver of his gunblade, the door creaked open and a familiar, or rather, a too familiar face walked into the dressing room.

"Hah... Leonhart..." Relafen Almasy quirked, "Knew I'd have to run into you here...."

Sifan hid his not-so-pleasant surprise, throwing a lazy look at Relafen's gunblade that he was busy shining. The modifications that were evident on his weapon caught his attention. The revolver was of a rare type of glacian steel, shiny black in all its glory; the blade's frame was alloyed with a glossy metal that Sifan figured out to be adamantine. The handle and the trigger seemed to be have been modified a firmer grip. As he looked on, he noticed the gleaming surface of the blade reflect his eyes.

"It's called a gunblade..." Relafen smirked, "or better yet, I call it 'The Vector'..."

"I thought Shin-Ra personnel weren't allowed in this competition..." Sifan grunted, reloading his Phoenix gunblade, the click resounding in the air.

"Nah.... They dumped that rule..." Relafen snapped at once, "Oh, which reminds me.... Leonhart... the first round fixtures are up... better check when you're up... the earlier you get your ass beaten, the better..."

"Don't count on it..." Sifan muttered, sheathing his gunblade.

Phillona's starry-eyed gaze strayed on to the evening sun sinking between the snow-capped glacian mountains. Barrages of thoughts were stumbling across her head. Things had become so complicated ever since the SeeDs had landed up in her world. The whole idea of three people from another world still refused to sound sane, but the choice she had on the matter wasn't much. Sitting on the roof of the cottage, arms enveloped around her knees, she continued to ponder.

The entire incident had triggered a weird consequence of events. And for most of it, she had become caught up in them too. A strange premonition entered her, telling her that things were heading for even more complication. But the sheer drama of it all had come too fast.

Losing Mideel, the end of the Mideel resistance, betrayed by the one she thought loved her, traveling across to glacia.... so much had happened. As far as three SeeDs went, things just grew even more intricate. Relafen Almasy became commander of Shin-Ra, almost as if it were his destiny. Avatar found his past, and then chose to do what he did.

And she knew that in the midst of all the madness, as a mere victim of cruel circumstances and revelations, was a troubled Sifan Leonhart. He didn't ask for any of it ... he never did. He didn't ask to be put through the trial. It just crashed on him like that of a high tide wave crashing on the unwary rocks. Sifan Leonhart's faith on the word 'friendship' was based only on Avatar. And once the treachery took place, he lost it. He lost faith in all that symbolized the bond of companionship. The chain reaction was not the best either, he withdrew the very little of himself he believed in.

Phillona didn't know much. Nobody, for that matter, usually knew what went on inside the depths of Sifan's mind. But she understood... she knew what betrayal meant. Mideel was one big betrayal. She pushed it out of her mind as a dove flapped its way across the wind. And slowly, she considered why she fell for Sifan Leonhart.

No, he wasn't charming. He was the last thing but that. And no, he was no Casanova. He was selfish, anti-social, cold, non-supportive, sometimes arrogant, conceited, and sarcastic. All in all, he was everything that could drive any girl round the bend. And yet, inside him, was something that showed Phillona he was lonely. He was afraid but too stubborn to show it. He was weak, but too proud to admit it. There was so much within him, but it was buried, or rather well hidden.

She was starting to feel so much for him, but the timing was nowhere near right. Sifan was in no position, not even by the slightest circumstance, to notice that she cared for him. She knew Sifan wouldn't reciprocate even if she told him that she loved him. At that point, it wouldn't have made any difference to him... but yet, all she wanted to do every time she saw him was tell him that she'd love him back to life. The time for that, however, she knew was yet to come...

She recognized the fact that, sooner or later, Sifan's loneliness would drive him straight into her arms and though it didn't look like it at that moment, she felt that soon enough, she would become his world. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and continued to gaze at the crimson sky.

She felt immature to think the way she did, it was so unrealistic... and yet her mind told her Sifan straying into her life was more than just a co-incidence...

Phillona Strife knew better than to just jump to conclusions but all her stupid mind seemed to tell her was Sifan Leonhart belonged to her....

A huge swarm of people were gathered around the notice board announcing the battle fixtures. It was so chaotic that Sifan could hardly see the chart displaying it. To make matters worse, he noticed Setzin was nowhere around. Deciding he would come back a bit later, he walked out of the battle square arena into the hallway. To his luck, there wasn't a single soul around, he guessed it was because the tickets for the event were limited and unless people fought their heads off at the ticket counter, they wouldn't get their hands on one.

The young SeeD rested his elbows on the windowsill, gazing at the spotlights shining their beams high across the sky. The moon was full and the breeze blew across his face, whistling in his ears.

He focused his attention on a bright star that was doing its best to shine brightly. His eyes were still and his jaw, firm... His soul felt heavy, his emotions heavier... He felt the scar on his shoulder with his hand, reliving every moment of the betrayal again.

_I survived... _

_--Yeah... you did--_

_Well.... Look who's here..._

_-- Don't bother being sarcastic.... I know you're not exactly happy to hear me--_

_What do you want...?_

_--Nothing--_

_Then why the hell are you here...? I thought I would never hear your fucking voice again.. y__ou've done enough... barging into my head... speaking in goddamn metaphors...the last thing I need now is a voice in my head...._

_--Why do you hate me so much...? All I do is guide you through all this madness--_

_You guided me INTO this madness.... _

_--You're weak--_

_Whatever...._

_--Very weak--_

_Shut up..._

_--Then get yourself together.... you have a long night ahead of you--_

_Oh tell me, oh wise Lyris... do I die here.... does Setzin plant his sword down my trachea...?_

_--No... Not Setzin--_

_very funny.._

_--Later__--_

The young Leonhart's confrontation with Lyris after a long time just worsened his mood. He strolled back in to the battle square arena, hoping that the crowd would've cleared. Much to his content, the only soul there was an old bookie, watching the list of fixtures intently. At once, Sifan scanned the chart starting from top to bottom. The list consisted of different Arenas, marked as Arena A, Arena B... all the way up to Arena F. Sifan recollected Setzin telling him that they were both registered under Arena A. Soon enough, he found the fixture table and quickly went through the match-ups.

Arena A: Round 1 Fixtures: (10:00 Midgar Standard Time)

Relafen Almasy Vs. Shinobis.

Sapphire Vs. Falcon blade.

Aura Vs. Sifan Leonhart.

Taurus Vs. Edge Runner.

The fifth fixture on the chart shook Sifan's attention harder than he would've liked. He wished he was hallucinating but he knew he wasn't. There it was, printed clearly like the other fixtures in neat bold letters.

Setzin Vs. Avatar Fenis.

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A/N: Please Review and Recommend.. Thanks...


	3. CHAPTER 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Walking around in circles did not ease Sifan Leonhart's mind. The first battle was minutes away from start, but the only thing that was ranting in his mind was the Setzin-Avatar fixture. And then almost suddenly, something struck him. Avatar and Setzin had never actually MET before. His one time friend had been away both the times Sifan had run into the poacher. Avatar didn't know Setzin but Setzin knew all about Avatar from Phillona. Then something else came sauntering into his head; the first term of agreement in the battle's sign-up was the fact that death was warranted. And the young Leonhart only knew too well that Avatar and death had become well-acquainted words. For a minute, the SeeD wondered whether the ninja still had a heart but the obvious answer shot back at him cruelly.

He was rudely awakened out of his thoughts by the eruption of cheers in the crowd. Sifan decided to put his worries away from some time while he walked into the spectator stand. Luckily, he managed to push through the crowd and secure a place in the first row beside another competitor. The arena's floor was well-polished wood, which was surrounded on all four sides by running water. The only way to enter or leave the battle ring was by a couple of drawbridges installed on opposite walls.

As the crowd began to murmur, the first bridge slowly opened out, revealing the silhouette of a warrior. The first entrant, 'Shinobis', as he called himself was draped entirely in crimson red. Around his head was a black bandana, tattered at the ends. Placed on his back were two sword-sheaths crossed against each other. Rows of shruikens were lined along his belt, glimmering in the bright focus lights. From the lowered drawbridge, he leapt into the air, somersaulted twice and landed on the ground with a twinkle in his eye. Ecstatic 'Oohs' and 'aahs' greeted him at once.

From the opposite corner, another drawbridge lowered, to allow Relafen Almasy into the ring. The young Shin-Ra commander grinned in his usual cocky manner and strode to the middle of the ring. He reloaded 'The Vector' in a quick swipe and tossed his head back and surveyed his opponent as if he were some lowly dirt. The expensive Shin-Ra suit he wore dazzled as he stood in the middle of the arena. The crowd just murmured hastily to each other, wondering whom they should place their bets on.

The loudspeaker crackled in to life as the drawbridges closed. The announcer quickly ran through all the rules, reminding both the contestants about all sorts of conditions and liabilities.

"…. And remember… falling in to the water means it's all over…" he concluded and the speaker went dead. The shrill ring of a bell resounded in the calm air and at once, the crowd went berserk.

_Here we go… _

Shinobis wasted no time. He was all over Relafen in a flash, throwing furious punches and kicks. The blonde haired commander swayed left and right, stepping back with each passing second. Shinobis paused for a second hoping to lull Relafen into a counter attack. He succeeded. The young Shin-Ra commander, thinking his opponent was taking a quick breath, tried to step in for a sword attack but the only thing he managed to do was catch a deadly roundhouse kick. Relafen backed away, grunting in pain. He paused for sometime, both the fighters eyeing each other till the ex-Seed raised his gunblade.

Without further warning, he rushed at his opponent, gunblade at his side. Shinobis brought out his twin swords in a flash in time for a block. The Shin-Ra commander's weapon made such a hard contact with the twin blades that sparks flew during the encounter. Without wasting further time in the sword deadlock, Shinobis managed to bury his feet into Relafen's stomach, causing him to retreat. It was obvious that Relafen had over estimated his opponent. But despite two consecutive lessons, he did not learn.

For the third time in a row, Relafen tried to rush his attack and this time paid the price. Shinobis' left hand shot out and the next thing Relafen knew, his wrist that was holding the sword, was in an iron-tight grip. He flinched in pain and soon, with a laugh, Shinobis stung the side of Relafen's face with a wild kick, sending him sprawling sideways on the ground.

_Ouch…_

Relafen Almasy had had enough. He sprung back to his feet, a small trickle of blood running from the corner of his lip. He clenched his teeth and raised his hand. At once, a fire spelled sweltered the air and headed straight for his opponent. Shinobis' chest caught the full impact of the spell, causing him to stumble backwards. Relafen refused to stop, firing one spell after another, most of them finding their mark on his rival's torso. The Shin-Ra commander was using magic to his advantage but that was what the competition was about… doing anything to get to the top.

Shinobis managed to roll out of the way when Relafen paused, exhausted from the continuous spell triggering. The young warrior reached for his belt and pulled out a few shruikens. Before Relafen could get his hand up for another chain of fire magic, a stinging row of shruikens hit Relafen's sword handle dislodged the loosely-fit fire materia. The small ball of condensed magic fell to the ground with a chink and rolled towards the water. Relafen turned around to save the materia but before he could grab it, it fell over the edge of the ring and into the water. The blonde haired boy soon paid the price for turning his back on Shinobis.

Never in all his life had Relafen Almasy's felt punches so hard. The first one caught him on his left jaw, the second one on the right and the third one on his nose and the rest on his stomach and chest. And then his adversary lashed a kick that nailed him across his cheek, knocking everything out of him, including his gunblade. And then with one swift fluid motion, Shinobis knocked Relafen off his feet with a sweep kick. The crowd went louder them ever as Shinobis walked over to Relafen, ready to knock him out with one last kick.

Relafen's head was spinning faster than a whirlwind, as he watched his opponent with a bloody lip. The ranting of the crowd filled his ears, which he knew to be the sign of an imminent defeat. Clenching his teeth in agony, with one desperate lunge, he grabbed his gunblade, which lay by his side and cast a spell.

The crowd went numb and so did Shinobis.

"Burn in hell, my friend…" were Relafen's audible words before Ifrit, the fire demon, ascended out of thin air, arms folded majestically. The beast landed in between the young commander and his adversary, eyeing Shinobis eagerly. The crowd looked on with a death-silence but Shinobis showed no fear. He spun around and with a quick step forward, he leapt backward into the air, and with an acrobatic flip, landed on the fire beast's shoulders. He raised his twin blades, ready to bury them into Ifrit's neck. The beast was not amused. He reached out with his hand and caught hold of his left leg and with a resounding roar, he flung him across the arena. Shinobis hit the closed drawbridge with a thud, his back against the wood, and fell in to the water, unconscious.

The bell sounded again signaling the end of the fight, as Ifrit disappeared. The crowd murmured amongst themselves and threw suspicious glances at Relafen. A Shin-Ra soldier jumped in to the water and brought out an unconscious Shinobis as Relafen got to his feet, blood still trickling from his lips. He dusted himself, sheathed his gunblade and stumbled out of the arena, not feeling too proud but victorious nonetheless.

Sifan sighed and made his way across the other spectators who were still scratching their heads over what they had just witnessed. The young Leonhart felt the calm, tranquil air outside a pleasant contrast to the noisy arena as he slowly reflected on what he had just seen.

_And it's just getting started…_

* * *

"Ifrit…." Keiara Fenis muttered as she watched her brother clean his sword, "Rupert's little commander can't do anything by himself, can he…?"

"He'll learn…." Avatar replied, his eyes focused on the edge of his blade, "Everybody learns…."

"Why do you want to do this, Avatar? Why waste time on some stupid battle? We still need to find Dhaos…" Keiara sighed, "and besides, none of them stand a chance against you…."

"…Dhaos can wait…."

"I don't understand…"

"…. I need to know, Keiara…" Avatar sheathed his sword, "I need to know for sure… how long it'll take before Sifan is ready to face me…"

"He… can't…"

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Avatar replied as he made his way to the exit, "He's Squall Leonhart's son…."

* * *

Trex Denver aimed his shotgun at Phillona's forehead.

"Bang…" the boy smirked, "You're dead…."

"Trex, put that thing away…" Marlene quipped as she, Phillona Strife and Trex Denver sat on the roof of their cottage in the glacian village, "I know it's new but don't go around pointing it at everything that moves…"

Phillona smiled, "Yeah… but you might want to do some shooting practice later though…"

"Ok…" Trex muttered, "NOW what are you planning…?"

Both Trex and Marlene looked at Phillona with a troubled look. They knew better than anyone else how Cloud's daughter hated sitting around doing nothing.

"Nothing…" she said with a mischievous smile on her face.

"……………."

"……………."

"Okay… okay…." Phillona sighed, "Uh… I was thinking…. Sifan wears this Phoenix pendant around his neck right…."

"Yeah?" Marlene said raising her eyebrow, "What about it…?"

"Well, remember the Phoenix clan?"

"OH you mean those bunch of weird-looking guys in that mountainside north of here…?" Trex queried.

"Yeah…" Phillona nodded, "Well, they don't allow anyone one to get to the other side of the mountain. They call it, the valley of the phoenix. Only those who have a sort of trademark Phoenix pendant given to them by the clan themselves get to pass through into the valley. Now that Seef's got one that looks just like it, I am sure we can use it to get across…"

"And for what purpose-" Trex started but Marlene interrupted at once.

"Cool!" the brown-haired girl cried, "We can see Phoenixes!"

"That is, if Sifan's willing to co-operate…" Phillona sighed, "I'll ask him once he gets back but all he feels like doing everyday is locking himself up in his room… I don't blame him…"

The three of them remained silent, as a blue kite circled over their heads. Trex broke the silence first, "It shouldn't have happened…"

"Yeah…" Marlene added, "They were like brothers…"

"He was the only one he ever trusted…" Phillona said, gazing at the bird in the sky, "and now… things have turned out like this…."

Trex leaned back on the chimney, "What do you think will happen if they meet again…?"

"Seef won't lift a finger…." Phillona replied, "He still can't get himself together to do that…"

"We can help him you know…" Marlene suggested, "We can be his friends…"

Phillona smiled, "It won't be easy, Marl… he's too stubborn to share his world… to anybody…"

"It'll take time…" Marlene mused, "I am sure, sooner or later, he'll need friends…."

"Yeah…" Trex added as usual, "and when he does, we're gonna be around…"

Phillona smiled. She was glad she had friends like Trex and Marlene. With them around, she knew she didn't need anyone else. There were so many times when she had felt they were the reason her world was a better place. But yet, the feeling remained, inside the depths of her soul lingered the pain of having lost her parents, the pain of being betrayed, the pain of being alone… and the only time it all went away was when she looked into the ocean blue eyes of a Sifan Leonhart….

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A/N: Please Review…


	4. CHAPTER 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Tediously leaning on a wall, Sifan Leonhart sipped on his coffee, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything he recognized. The gold saucer hallway looked desolate and the reason was understandable. The second battle had already started. The young Leonhart, however, decided to loaf about outside than to sit in a chaotic crowd watching desperate fighters slug it out. The other thing on his mind was the next battle for which he was in no mood for. He wished something would put him in a battle frame of mind, but nothing seemed to make him want to have a good fight. Sighing casually, he took another sip, pondering over the materia he had.

_Bahamut… that would be cheating but what the heck… getting the job done is more important…_

_Fire… hmmm… I've had it since that SeeD exam… should've grown more powerful now…_

_Gunblade? Yeah… loaded… _

_I think I need some curative items… I am completely empty… or maybe more materia…._

He crushed his paper cup and throwing it into the monkey-shaped bin, he made his way to the shopping area. Despite the fact that the golden saucer shopping area had everything anyone wanted, it was barely busy. The high prices were the chief reason. Setzin had told him earlier that when Shin-Ra had taken over the entire place, people expected the rates to go down but only the contrary happened. It left everyone unhappy but for one thing, the variety and the choice were huge. They had everything from Glacian condor-feathered caps to custom-made swords.

The money Setzin had given him proved to be just about enough when Sifan went through the list of items in the shop. He felt stupid not to have borrowed any of Trex's, Marlene's or Phillona's materia. Sighing, he continued to scan the items slowly.

_Elixirs… Mega-potions… Megaelixirs… Ethers… … 1000 gils each!? _

The shopkeeper cleared his throat, seeing the surprised look on Sifan's face, "Ahem… Let me assure you, sir, everything her works flawlessly… made from the finest raw materials… straight from the wells of Mideel…"

_Mideel… so that's what they've turned that place into… a production unit for Shin-Ra's market items… I thought they were gonna build a reactor… _

"I'll take a couple of ethers… and an elixir…" Sifan nodded, "Show me your materia…"

The shopkeeper smiled adequately as he produced a tray of materia organized in perfect arrays making them look like precious gems. Before the SeeD could marvel in their magnificence some more, an irate Relafen Almasy sauntered into the store.

"Elixir…" he barked, seemingly in great pain, "Now! Hurry up dammit…"

"Yes sir… at once, sir!" the man quipped and reached for the shelves. After grabbing a bottle as fast as he could, he tossed it to the Shin-Ra commander. The young Almasy emptied it in one quick draught. The man did not dare to ask Relafen to pay up. He knew only too well to ask a Shin-Ra personnel to pay for something inside the their own turf.

"Aah…" he blurted with relief, throwing himself on a chair in the corner, "That feels better…"

He lay back for a while as Sifan went through the materia collection placed in front of him. Sifan recalled how Shinobis had taken the fight to Relafen. Relafen won, thanks to Ifrit but looking at Relafen, he knew Shinobis was the real winner. Turning back his attention to the materia collection in front of him, Sifan noticed a red materia shining away at the corner of the tray.

"Is… that…" Sifan pointed to the materia. "… is that a summon materia?"

"S-Summon materia?" Relafen jumped to his feet, "Hey… It wasn't here when I came by last time …"

The shopkeeper beamed, "New arrival, sir! Our men found it outside Midgar HQ, they say its Leviathan…"

"Alright, hand it over…" Relafen marched to the counter, "Step aside Leonhart, this one is-"

"…Mine…" Sifan Leonhart said bluntly, standing in Relafen's path, "I saw it first and trust me on this, Relafen… if you touch this materia…the first thing I'll do is have you mega flared all the way back to balamb… it won't be pretty…"

The threat went like a bullet through the Ex-SeeD's head. He took a step back, threw Sifan a dirty look and marched out of the shop, cursing everything in his path. The shopkeeper grinned, "Wow… Sir, you have Bahamut…? Say, how about we work out a nifty little deal… 10,000 gil… right her-"

"Not for sale…" came the direct reply, "How much for Leviathan?"

"5000… nothing less…"

"Oh really?" Sifan was not pleased, "Very well then, I think I'll let commander-"

"3000…"

Sifan stepped out of the shop, putting away the items in his pocket when the sound of the crowd going wild resonated across the air. Sifan hurried his stride and soon, he reached the arena. He pushed his away across the roaring spectators chanting 'Falcon Blade' and finally managed to get a look at what was going on in the ring. He soon got to know what was making the scene.

In the middle of the wooden floor lay the dead fighter 'Edge runner', his own sword fixing his bloody chest to the floor. The black cape of his slayer fluttered behind him as he disappeared across the far exit. And then from atop the focus lights, descended a gray falcon. It landed on the sword pierced on the dead body, and spread its wings majestically, signaling the victory of its master.

The crowd were enthralled even more and soon the only thing that sounded in the air were the loud chants of 'Falcon Blade'…

* * *

Sifan sauntered into the locker room, and just like he expected, Setzin was walking up and down the room impatiently.

"There you are…" the poacher said at once, "Are you ready…?"

Sifan nodded as he pulled out the Leviathan materia from his pocket to equip his gunblade with it. Setzin, at once, seemed disapproving of the young Leonhart using the summon materia.

"Don't tell me…"

"Leviathan…"

"WHAT?" Setzin's husky voice grew loud, "How did you get that?"

"Shop…" came the monosyllable reply.

"Return it to me after the battle…" Setzin said slowly, "It belongs to my people… the people of Wutai…"

"Pay me…"

"How much…?"

"5000…" the young Leonhart replied as he and Setzin walked out of the locker room and headed towards the ring's entrance.

As soon as they arrived near the drawbridge, Setzin sighed heavily, "Okay listen up… I've got details on your opponent, kid…"

"Aura…?"

"Yeah…" Setzin cleared his throat, "Female… 19 years old… Weapons… none…"

"Wha-"

"Hold your horses, there's more…" Setzin continued, "She's got bracelets on both hands… 10 different materia on each … that makes it twenty for both hands…. She'll pull out anything on you… so be prepared…"

"Hey you…" A soldier interrupted from around the corner, "I am opening the damn bridge, so get started already…"

Setzin nodded, "Best of luck…"

And with that the one-eyed warrior walked away, as the drawbridge slowly creaked open.

The roar of the crowd was the first thing that greeted Sifan Leonhart as he walked into the ring. The bright focus lights glared down on him like huge eyes from above. The sound of the water running around the ring trickled into his ears even as the announcer continued to spit out Sifan's name, pronouncing it differently each time he said it. The SeeD's eyes took time to get used to the light as he slowly surveyed his audience. Some of them raised their beer mugs at him while a few girls swooned and giggled. Some of them looked thoroughly bored as they sat swinging their legs. They wanted the fight and they wanted it fast. Just has he was about to turn his attention to the other drawbridge, along the corner of his eye, he saw him. In the last row, seated quietly in the shadows, was Avatar Fenis.

Even as the crowd turned its attention to the other entrant, Sifan's eyes remained fixed on Avatar. But the latter was looking in the other contestant's way. He seemed uninterested in making eye contact with his one-time friend. Sifan decided to concentrate on the battle at hand. He knew too well that the time for Avatar was not then.

The drawbridge completed it's opening and soon, the crowd went nuts as usual. This time, the men seemed to be lifting the roof over what they saw.

Dressed in spotless white, Aura made her way to the ring. Like Setzin said, she adorned bracelets on both her hands and the young Leonhart noticed the beads of materia stuck on them. Sifan eagerly tried to get a closer look at the materia but they were shining too brightly because of the focus lights. Much to the crowd's pleasure, the young girl was attractively dressed. Long locks of blonde hair ran down her sides. She wore a bright turtle-necked, sleeveless white shirt. Her white pants glowed in the focus lights as the men in the crowd sent sharp whistles throughout the air. She smiled as she made her way to the ring. She cast a float spell on her self as she walked, and hovered into the ring in style. She descended in front of Sifan, who was nonchalantly observing all the hype caused by her. When she stood a few feet away from the young Leonhart, he noticed why she had all the boys going crazy. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hey…" she said, surprised, "What's a cutie like you doing in a place like this…?"

"Lets get this over with…" Sifan replied calmly. 

"Here…? Now…?" she winked.

"Yeah… right here, righ-" Sifan paused, "H-Hey… what did you mean by that…"

The deafening ring of the bell interrupted their conversation. Sifan whipped out his gunblade and took a step back, nowhere interested in wasting time in useless jibber-jabber.

"Hmph…" Aura muttered, "You're no fun… fine… I'll kick your ass if that's the way you want it…"

* * *

"Sephiroth!" the urchin cried, as he came running around the corner, "T-They're hitting grandpa…"

The silver-haired man dropped the firewood he was carrying at once, "Who…?"

"Sh-Shin-Ra soldiers…" tears started to roll down the young boy's face, "They said they didn't wanna pay for grandpa's weapons… grandpa tried to stop them from taking his weapons…"

"Stay here…"Sephiroth replied, dusting the boy's shirt, "I'll take care of it, don't worry…"

The stout Shin-Ra soldier kicked the elderly man on the stomach again, causing him to lay sprawled on the ground. The other four soldiers laughed and guffawed stupidly as the petrified occupants of the gondola village remained locked up their houses.

"Stupid old runt…" the soldier barked, "ya really think ya can make us pay money for yer weapons…"

The others followed in suit, throwing garish insults at the old weapon-maker. However, they stopped when they saw a smile form on the old man's wrinkled lips.

"What ya laughing at, gran' pa?" spat one of them, "I don't see nothin' funny…"

"You boys b-better kiss your… s-sorry… l-little…Shin-Ra… asses goodbye…" He gasped slowly, still smiling though he was in pain.

The soldiers turned around, wondering what the old man was talking about. In a long black attire, stood a tall man, weaves of silver hair falling at his sides. His mako green eyes were fixed dryly on the soldiers. On his side hung a long sword holder. He peacefully folded his hands and began to speak.

"Leave…" he said calmly, "now…"

The lack of respect, fear or anything of that sort only agitated the soldiers. One of them lit a quick cigar and placed it in his mouth as he spoke, "Hey, look boys… some stupid screwball tryin' ta save the day…"

"I'll be polite…" the silver-haired warrior spoke, "Please leave… without any trouble…"

"Oh yeah…?" the soldier grunted, walking up to Sephiroth, signaling the others to wait, "Ya know… you look kinda familiar…"

He scratched his head for a while and then shrugged. He pulled out a handgun and placed it on Sephiroth's head, "Okay… now… what were you saying?"

"Leave…" he repeated patiently.

"Did ya boys hear that…?" he smirked, turning around to his comrades, "he thinks we-" The soldier froze. He stayed motionless as he turned his shivering head slowly, his mouth trembling.

The ten-feet katana blade planted in his stomach made him wish he would die fast.

"I didn't want to do this…" Sephiroth sighed, as he left his sword planted in the soldier and stepped towards the others, "Now the rest of you… please leave…"

The dazed soldiers looked on with their mouths open as their Katana-glued compatriot staggered forward near Sephiroth, blood dripping from his mouth and stomach.

"I'll say it for the last time…"Sephiroth said, looking at the soldiers as he reached for the sword fixed on the man beside him, "leave…"

He pulled out the sword in one swift motion, putting the soldier's misery to an end as his lifeless body crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood.

Snapping out of their thoughts, the remaining soldiers rushed at the man who had just killed one of them. In a few seconds, the first soldier's body hit the ground hard, most of his neck detached from his head. The second one swallowed hard and tried to back away but soon, he too wore the katana through his heart. The man draped in black lifted the soldier up into the air, his body still strung on his sword. With a grunt, he tossed him aside through a row of barrels.

The last soldier made a scamper for the exit, faster than a golden chocobo. His eyes widened as he reached the straw gate leading out of the village but suddenly, his body froze. The world around him went black and soon, green rays of light surrounded him, and a second later, rushed into his body with tremendous force. He felt every cell in his body reduce to nothingness as he and the ground around him burned in green flames. Only ashes were left after the spell the world knew as 'Ultima'.

* * *

A/N: please review… in dire need of encouragement... 


	5. CHAPTER 4

Chapter 4 

Aura's hazel blue eyes stood transfixed on the SeeD before her. She still couldn't get into the mind frame to attack the handsome brown-haired boy before her. Sifan Leonhart, on the other hand, was just aching to have a go with his gunblade. The only thing holding him back was the fact that she was a woman, and he didn't exactly feel proud to physically assault a woman.

"See darling? We're lovers, not fighters…" she smiled, "So why don't you let me win this quietly, and we can go have a cup of coffee together…"

"………………"

"Guess that's a 'No', eh cutie…?"

The crowd started to turn impatient. Shouts and yells could be heard, asking the two of them to get on with the fight. Aura threw her head back and stretched her hands, still hovering about under her float spell.

"Alright… fine…" she winked in her usual characteristic manner, "Let's go!"

With that, she hovered backwards, firing a thunder spell straight at Sifan. The young SeeD rolled to the side, the bolt of lightning missing him by inches. Before he could get back to his stance, he saw a firaga head straight for him. Wasting no time, he swayed to his right, dodging the spell successfully once again . Next came a blizzaga followed by another Firaga.And so it went on, Aura looking nowhereclose to finishing her chaotic rain of spells. Blizzagas, firagas, thundagas, aeros, quakes, confuses, poison, slows… it was endless.

Sifan Leonhart's skills surprised Aura. Despite the never-ending spell chain, her opponent still managed to avoid them, someway way or another, rolling, swaying, ducking, bending, doing everything he could. Aura smiled as the crowd applauded the SeeD's resilience. But like any human , Sifan Leonhart reached his limit. His body was exhausted and his legs ached, tired from all the dodging. Worn out, he paused to take a quick breather.

And at once, an aero spell found its mark on him. Before the brown-haired boy could do anything about it, the mighty wind-spell spun him around with a strong howl. It lifted the helpless Sifan into the air, spinning his body in what looked like a flying tornado. And then it left him as suddenly as it had taken him. The thud of the young Leonhart hitting the ground resounded across the ring as he crashed into the wooden floor. He somehow staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain on his back. His surroundings spun like a whirlwindin front of him. He wobbled like a drunk, trying to sustain his balance. He staggered forward to a rather confident Aura, who stood smiling away at her opponent. She walked up to him as the crowd watched on happily.

"Well… you know cutie…" she said to the shaken up Sifan, "You shoulda listened when I-"

She didn't see the SeeD's gunblade coming. With a shrill clang, it smashed Aura's bracelet, causing her to jump back in shock, holding her bracelet. Before she could look up at her opponent, he was already swinging his weapon at her. The target was once again, the bracelet. The swordlandedsmack in the middle of the bracelet, dislodging every materia. The magic stones flew across the air and plopped into the water.

"YOU IDIOT!!"

An infuriated Aura put all the strength she could gather up into a kick and planted it on Sifan's shin, causing him to withdraw in pain. Aura grabbed the opportunity and dashed to the far end of the ring, hoping she could equip some extra materia. Satisfied he managed to irritate Aura, Sifan rubbed his aching shin as his opponent fished her pockets for materia in the corner of the ring. He stood up and concentrated on his spell, aiming for the white figure straight ahead of him. The fire caught Aura unaware. She let go of the small pouch of materia she held and soon, that toofell into the water.

Burnt, the young woman spun around, a clear look of fury in her eyes, "That's going way WAY too far, CUTIE!"

Sifan walked across the ring casually, confident that he was close to victory. But when he got to the middle of the ring, the smile on the blonde's face widened wickedly, sending a sinking feeling across the young Leonhart's mind.

"Eat this!" Aura fumed, "METEOR!"

Sifan gulped. The air grew sultry and a rumbling noise filled the air, signaling there were meteors heading his way. Without wasting further time, the SeeD quickly connected with his materia and summoned Bahamut.

The seconds in waiting for the dragon Godwere not ones Sifan could afford. A sweltering meteor materialized in the air above and headed straight for him in a ball offlames. Sifan froze, his heart in his mouth. He raised his hands in self-defense but before he could feel anything like a meteor nailing the life out of him, a giant dragon swooped down and received the full impact of the meteor.

Bahamut roared in pain, shaken by the meteor. However, he ignored the pain and settled in front of the young SeeD. More meteors soon headed towards the dragon shielding his summoner. With a hollering screech of anger, the dragon blasted a flare at the meteors causing a loud explosion that lit up the entire arena with a blinding flash. Soon, all that remained was a proud Bahamut, a relieved Sifan Leonhart and a dumbstruck Aura.

Bahamut turned around to face the young blonde woman, his arms folded and his wings stretching across the entire ring. A trembling Aura stood in the shadow of the guardian force, throwing anxious looks at a translucent Sifan Leonhart standing beside the dragon.

Sifan sighed. He shrugged and shook his head at Bahamut, asking him to return. The dragon heaved and soon disappeared, disappointed he couldn't mega flare the person who caused him a little meteor pain.

The crowd was petrified as much as Aura was, "T-that was… t-that was…."

"Bahamut…" Sifan nodded, returning to his stance, ready to resume the battle "Let's go…"

"Y-you could've finished me off with Bahamut… I mean…" she said, amidst the sound of the crowd's frantic murmuring, "W-Why…?"

"You would've died…" he replied, still not letting his defense down, "Now let's finish this…"

"No…" she said removing her bracelet, "Y-You win…I'll surrender…"

She turned to the ring announcer seated at the microphone table. She signaled him to end the fight and he did as he was told. The shrill ring echoed across the arena, surprising the crowd. They expected a more exciting finish after all they had seen during the match. But satisfied nonetheless, they applauded as the drawbridges opened for the contestants to exit. Sifan looked over his shoulder but nowhere in the vicinity was Avatar Fenis.

Sifan Leonhart sheathed his gunblade as he and Aura walked through the passageway to the exit, "Why did you do that…?"

She was silent for a while and then slowly replied, "Because… you were the better one…"

"…………"

"If you didn't have Bahamut, you would've died… those meteors would've killed you… I used a very powerful materia…"

"I know."

"But once you had Bahamut in front of me… you could've ended me then and there… I didn't think twice before summoning meteors …whether they would kill you… but when it came to me… Bahamut was ready to finish me off… but you sent him back…you could've threatened me… you didn't do that either… you stood in your cute little stance and wanted to keep fighting… Ah…you melted me…"

"I smashed ten materia of yours into the water…"

"Look at you… trying to sound all evil…" She snickered as they reached the hallway.

A few feet away stood an unmasked Shinobis leaning on the wall, smoking a cigarette. He threw it to the ground and looked up. He had dark blue eyes, with black strands of hair falling on either side of his temple. He had a strongly set jaw and handsome features. His eyes connected with Aura and he managed a faint smile.

"Jack!" Aura yelled in delight as she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, "You're alright now…?"

"Yeah…" Jack Shinobis replied, running his hand through Aura's golden hair, "Still aches a bit though… but I had to see your fight…"

Aura and Jack remained lost in each other, the former, glad to see her boyfriend back on his feet and the latter, happy that the girl he loved was unhurt though she lost the battle.

"Oh… meet Sif-" She let the words trail off.

She and Jack were the hallway's only occupants. Sifan Leonhart was gone.

* * *

"Nice going, kid…" Setzin mumbled as Sifan entered the locker room, "Good job…"

"She gave up…" Sifan muttered as he sat down on the bench next to Setzin, "I think Bahamut scared the hell out of her…"

"Her mind wasn't in the battle…"

"I know…" Sifan nodded, thinking of Aura and Jack, "She was worried about that Shinobis guy too much… She didn't care about anything else…"

"Hmmm… what matters is you move on now…" Setzin stood to his feet, "Your next fight will be with Falcon Blade… tomorrow…"

Sifan didn't like the sound of it, "I know… but Edge runner's body wasn't exactly nice to look at in the condition Falcon blade left it in…"

"Edge runner…?" Setzin raised his eyebrow, "It was Sapphire who got killed…"

"YES!" came a loud voice from the entrance to the locker room. A giant, about 7 feet tall, stood smiling away and onhis shoulders, was seated a small dwarf.On the giant's chest was atattoo of a bull and the words, 'TAURUS'. The smallman jumped to the ground.He removeda small knife and raised it over his head.

"I AM EDGE RUNNER!" he declared, "I WILL NEVER get taken out by some falcon blade… or a chocobo blade for that matter…"

The only person who seemed to find the miserable attempt at humor funny was the giant, Taurus, "D-uh… Hahaha… you're funny, edge…"

Edge walked over toSifan and Setzin, Taurus following in his wake. Funnily enough, the seated Leonhart was still taller than the standing edge. The dwarf stuck the small knife into the bench and laughed maniacally, trying to strike fear into every mind that watched him.Sifan sighed. Edge's knife wasas long as Sifan's gunblade handle.

"Now…" Edge said, "If you gentlemen would be kind enough to let me and Taurus practice our fight routine…"

Setzin coughed dryly as he and Sifan did as they were told. Sifan was bored and the entertainment was most certainly welcome as far as he was concerned. He stood near the entrance along with Setzin as Edge and Taurus got ready to practice their routine.

With a mighty jump onto the table, Edge imitated the ring announcer, "…And now ladies and gentlemen… the man you've all been waiting for… ladies, prepare to lose your hearts… and men, prepare to lose your ladies…presenting… the one… the only… EDGE RUNNER!!!"

The giant clapped and applauded happily as edge pretended to give the audience his best smile. Unfortunately, the lack of teeth made the scene a little hilarious.

"Hey… hey… edge…" the giant said, "Let me do my entrance… ahem… gentleladies!! Uh… ladies… get prepared to lose… your arse… gwahahaha me so funny… and men get prepared to lose your pants-"

"Ok that's enough…" Edge cut in, before his friend could make a bigger fool of himself, "Now…"

He turned to Sifan and Setzin, "Please leave you two… you'll see us in action soon, in a few minutes… so please leave me and Taurus alone… I know it's hard.. us being the sexy beasts that we are…"

Setzin roared into laughter as he and Sifan proceeded away from the locker room, "This should be amusing…"

Sifan nodded, "Setzin-"

"Yes…I know" the one-eyed poacher replied, lighting a cigar, "I'll be careful with Avatar…"

Sifan heaved. It was amazing howSetzin had managed to connect with him so well. He knew what he was thinking before he could even speak it out aloud. It was something only Avatar used to share with him. Sifan's temples ached when he thought of Ultimecia's son but Setzin snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Let's have something to eat before those two clowns start their fight …"

"Yeah…" Sifan nodded as they proceeded towards the Shin-Ra burger Stall where hungry spectators stood gobbling everything they could get their hands on.

* * *

The crowd roared with their blare yells and shouts when Taurus walked into the ring. He lookedjust like Sifan had seen him earlier but now hehad a ridiculously silly bull mask on, with horns on either side. The crowd however, still expected a serious fight and they continued to cheer Taurus on. Little did they know thata 'cleverly crafted routine' was already fixed. Sifan assumed the 'routine' ended with Edge winning the match. The young Leonhart was sure Taurus was being played well by his relatively clever friend. Taurus loved the attention and made horn signs with his fingers behind his head making him look even more stupid.

Soon, the mighty Edge runner sauntered into the ring. He wore a red towel on his back, which was supposedly a cape. On his head was a multi-colored bandana and on his side, hung the majestic 10-inch knife. He walked in casually, acknowledging the crowd. Mistaking the laughing for applause, Edge ran into the ring and somersaulted twice in the air. He was about to land on his face but Taurus caught him and set him to the ground, the crowd at once, going suspicious. Soon enough, the ring resounded and the fight of the century was officially underway.

Edge ran to the middle of the ring. Finding the focus lights too bright, he ran back to where he was standing and pulled out his knife. On seeing this, Taurus let out a petrified scream in order to show how scared he was of the knife.

"D-uh… MERCY my lord!" Taurus cried loudly, falling on his knees. The crowd didn't know how to react.

With a broad grin, Edge walked over to the 'pleading' Taurus.

"Hah! I know no Mercy …" Edge said, putting on a stylish accent, "You plead in vain…"

He then lifted his knife and gave a tiny poke on Taurus' stomach.

"Ouch…" Taurus grunted, "er... YOUR MIGHTY WEAPON will be my DOOM, oh great one!"

Edge poked him again with a smile, this time, a little harder.

"Hey, watch it…" Taurus mumbled, "Ahem…. NO NO!!! NO MORE CAN I TAKE, you ARE TOO powerful… D-uh…"

For the third time, Edge poked Taurus.

"WHY YOU LITTLE PRICK!" Taurus bellowed, standing up to his feet, towering over a suddenly paralyzed Edge.

"Oh crap…" were Edge's words as he set off, an angry Taurus chasing him all round the ring, "Taurus, buddy! It was just a pin prick…"

Taurus was not interested. He continued to dash after the dwarf. At one point, Edge spun around and faced Taurus. He raised his hand and muttered a spell, "BLIND!!!"

A spectator went blind in the row behind Sifan.

"Oh crap…" were Edge's words as Taurus lifted him up into the air with the mask's horns. The dwarf caught on to his giant friend's horns and managed to stay on top, clinging to his neck. After a few minutes however, Taurus forgave his friend and helped him down from his back.

"Uh… buddy?" Edge said, getting down from the giant's back, "See the water there…?"

"D-uh yeah…" he replied as the two of them walked to the edge of the ring.

"Well… it looks good to me… how about a swim, buddy?" Edge said, putting on an excited look, "I'll bet the water is fine!"

"D-uh… but what about the fight…?" Taurus scratched his head.

"We can take a break…" Edge whispered, "Now… how about the swim?"

Little did Taurus know that Edge was planning to win by having Taurus lose by the falling-in-the-water rule. His eyes filled with innocence, he looked at the image of crystal clear water. The sound of heavenly water percolated his senses.

"You're right…" the giant replied much to the dwarf's content.

"LET'S GO!" Taurus yelled joyously as he grabbed hold of Edge's cape and jumped into the water, getting both the mighty warriors disqualified.

* * *

Setzin's smile still refused to vanish as he walked into the locker room with Sifan. But soon, after having a few laughs over the entire incident, he sat down on the bench and began to fix his materia into his giant sword. There were no words between Sifan and the one-eyed poacher. They both knew words were no use. The battle was minutes away from starting and the only thing that crossed Sifan's mind was the fear that the ninja might end Setzin's life if he was given the chance.

"Setzin… be careful…" Sifan said as the elder man tightened his boots, "Don't be too offensive…"

"Okay… how does he fight… just like you?"

"No…" Sifan said slowly, "Ninjitsu…"

Setzin laughed, "Don't play the fool… tell me… What's his approach…?"

"I wasn't joking…"

An ironic silence hung between them. Both Sifan and Setzin knew that Avatar's fighting style was deadly.

The art of killing was no laughing matter…

* * *

A/N: Where are all my readers? 300 reviews for part I… and now I am getting crumbs… but a big thank you for all those who are reviewing… I guess I took too long to start part II… oh well… anyways… please review people… or me gonna sulk long before updating again… 


	6. CHAPTER 5

_**Chapter 5**_

Professor Lorenz stood in the hull of the airship, watching the clouds roll by. But clouds were the last thing on his mind as he continued to smoke his expensive brand of Midgar cigars. It had taken a week for him to make up his mind as to whether he should go after Sephiroth or not. Finally, he decided he would do so. He had no plans on talking to Sephiroth or even meeting him for that matter. The truth was, he had no plans at all. Lorenz knew he had to come up with one of his devious plots if he wanted to get his hands on Sephiroth again. He made up his mind to think of some reprehensible scheme once they landed on the Shin-Ra base near the Gondolian mountains. He was determined to do it, even if it took all night. And to add to his advantage, no one in Shin-Ra had come to know that the Jenova project had been confidentially re-opened by Lorenz.

The whole idea of going after Sephiroth popped into his head a couple of weeks ago when Relafen Almasy had come stumbling into his office. He outrageously claimed that he had met Sephiroth in Gondola village while searching for the Shin-Ra container. After being in the middle of things like inter-dimensional travel, the young commander couldn't help but believe that anything was possible. Lorenz knew at once it was the truth but he hid his surprise and calmly convinced Relafen into believing that it was not Sephiroth or rather, it was a look-alike doing a cheap impersonation of the legendary SOLDIER. Ignorant of Lorenz's dishonesty, the young Almasy took comfort in the fact that Lorenz was a man of science and decided that if Lorenz didn't believe it was Sephiroth, there was no reason for him to do so.

That, however, was far from the truth…

* * *

The crowd went wild when they saw the massive sword Setzin carried as he walked out through the drawbridge. He quietly strolled across the ring in a sturdy pace. Once he reached the corner of the wooden ring, he lifted his weapon off his shoulder and placed it in front of him. The poacher turned his head and saw an anxious Sifan Leonhart looking on. He nodded as if to tell the young SeeD to loosen up. Sifan was restless but he knew he could only stand there like every other individual watching the fight. An edgy feeling settled at the back of his mind as the other drawbridge opened out, revealing the shadowy form of Avatar Fenis.

'Cold' was the only word that could portray the ninja's face. If there was one place where emotion failed to exist, it was in the frozen heart of Avatar Fenis. Nothing… Nothing in hell or heaven could bring emotion to the soul of Sifan's one-time best friend. The katana blade calmly rested in the holster across the young Fenis' waist. Sifan knew it was only a matter of time before it came searching for a prey. Ever since the Lichita hill incident, never had the blade returned to its cover without sending someone to hell. Anyone who dared to come in its way never had the chance to get out. And blood was what the crowd wanted as they cheered the ninja during his walk to the middle of the ring.

What Avatar Fenis didn't know was the fact that his opponent for the match was the one who had saved Sifan Leonhart's life on the night of the betrayal. He had left his friend in a bloody mess in the middle of nowhere. If it hadn't been for the poacher, Sifan Leonhart wouldn't be breathing that very moment. Avatar was oblivious to who the one-eyed warrior in front of him was. It didn't strike him that Sifan had told him about Setzin once when the young Leonhart had a rough 'pin-up' with him in the golden saucer airship. He flexed his neck as the announcer coughed out the details of the battle on the microphone.

Setzin tried to read his opponent's face, their eyes meeting for a brief second. The piercing look of a heartless killer was all Setzin could feel from the gaze of the young Fenis. He never knew the history of Avatar's relationship with Sifan but the one thing he did know was the betrayal left Sifan shattered. He continued to survey his opponent. The chain mail he wore on his torso was designed to take the hardest of punches and kicks without causing much damage to the person wearing it. Setzin had read a million things and heard a million more about the art of ninjitsu. And right then, he knew that nothing, not even his colossal sword could give him an advantage over Avatar Fenis.

The ring violently interrupted the impatient chattering of the crowd, drawing all their attention to the middle of the ring. Sifan Leonhart's heart skipped a beat as the two warriors readied themselves for what Sifan knew would be a fast battle. Strafing in circles, the two fighters waited for the first move. Setzin decided not to take the offense no matter how long it took. The ninja, on the other hand, was already planning to end the fight.

Avatar rushed straight at Setzin with a fast dash. Setzin straight away readied his weapon for the block, expecting a physical attack of some sort, but the boy didn't take out his sword. Instead, he just continued running straight at him, and at once, Setzin knew the danger of the situation. In order to block his opponent's attack, he needed to know how he was going to attack or whether he was going to attack at all for that matter. If he didn't know whether an attack was coming, standing there holding up his sword for a block would give the enemy all the time in the world to get into close-quarter combat. And getting into close quarters with a ninja would be the same as running into a fire with a can of gasoline.

Setzin decided not to take the risk and chose against going for a block. He made up his mind to swing his sword at the approaching fighter and waited, his eyes on his opponent. And it was that decision that played Setzin straight into the hands of Avatar Fenis.

With a loud grunt, the poacher swung his sword at the ninja with all his might. But his opponent dived forward into a roll and the next thing Setzin knew, Avatar was behind him. Without wasting any time, the Wutai warrior swung his sword in a giant arc as he spun around quickly. But the ninja was still crouched from the roll, causing the blade to miss easily. The catastrophic miss left the sword stranded too far away from Setzin's body, leaving him naked to Avatar's offense. It was that one chance that Avatar needed to unleash hell on his opponent.

Sifan Leonhart's eyes widened in shock as Avatar launched his first punch at Setzin's nose, breaking it at once. The second punch landed hard on the solar plexus. He smashed another elbow into his opponent's left shoulder, causing him to drop his heavy sword. Setzin tried to throw a punch with the hand that had dropped the weapon but Avatar twisted it into a tight arm lock, causing the man to scream in pain. With his adversary helpless, he nailed his broken nose again with a kick. Setzin's hand still firmly caught in his arm, the young Fenis mercilessly buried a hard knee into the abdomen of his opponent. He let go of the poacher's hand but as abruptly as he had let go of it, he caught hold of it again and yanked Setzin towards himself. He raised his leg, causing Setzin's chin to crash into his heel. He let go of the arm and before Setzin could fall, he unsheathed his katana and swung it upward, goring Setzin's shoulder. Avatar still refused to let him go down. Mercilessly, he pulled him back like before and with a flying knee, he dismantled Setzin's bloody jaw. Setzin hit the ground hard as Avatar walked up to him. With a horrific force, he buried his foot on Setzin's pierced shoulder, making his opponent scream in anguish.

The crowd watched on with riotous roars as Avatar Fenis looked down on his enemy, seconds away from sending him to his death. The man screamed out in pain as the ninja raised his katana to bury it into his adversary and finish him off.

Bahamut landed with a furious thud a few feet in front of Avatar Fenis, an uneasy Sifan Leonhart standing beside him. The ring announcer called for the disqualification bell and signaled the end of the match, handing the obvious victory to Avatar. The crowd didn't care; they knew it could only get better with one more person involved. They continued to holler as Sifan walked over to Avatar.

Setzin's body was beaten to a bloody mess. His nose was covered in blood, his lips filled with more wounded abrasions. His left shoulder was a deep shade of crimson and his right elbow was broken. His face was red, trickles of blood running down the corners of his lip. Avatar Fenis had destroyed Setzin inside out.

The ninja stood unmoving, sword still raised over Setzin's limp body.

The young Fenis began to laugh as Bahamut, the dragon God waited beside Sifan Leonhart.

"You want to fight me already?" Avatar spoke, directing a chilly glare at the SeeD, "Let me finish-"

"Shut up…" Sifan hissed, "Put your blade back in, and get outta here… leave him alone…"

"Oh…" Avatar raised an eyebrow, stepping away from Setzin, "An acquaintance of yours, huh?"

"Leave… you won all ends up…now just leave…"

Avatar gave a dry smile.

"Later…" he said before turning around and leaving to the exit.

Sifan relieved Bahamut of his summon and at once, turned his attention to the crumpled figure of Setzin. He removed a mega elixir from his pocket and emptied its contents into the mouth of the defeated warrior. Setzin's bleeding stopped at once but it was too late. The damage was done and he showed no signs of recovery.

Sifan lifted the barely conscious fighter to his feet slowly, "Can you walk…?"

"I t-think s-so …" came the weak reply, "It's o-ok… I thought he'll kill me…"

"The first-aid room is just outside the exit… just keep up till then…"

"T-Thanks, k-kid… " Setzin said, still in pain, as a disturbed Sifan Leonhart slowly helped him to the exit.

* * *

People in the Gondola village were naïve, uneducated and ignorant. They lived in their little village and that was their world, they couldn't be bothered by anything unrelated to it. They knew what METEOR was but that was about all they knew. They didn't know what caused METEOR or the power behind it. The new Shin-Ra had assured everyone that it had happened by 'chance' and went on to plant a 'logical' explanation into the minds of the people. Gondolian villagers were no exception to the brainwashing either. They didn't know that the unconscious man they had nursed back to health over the last few days was the one who had threatened their very existence a long time ago.

For years, the people of Gondola village were like slaves for the Shin-Ra, providing them with food, aid, weapons and shelter for free. Sometimes, traveling Shin-Ra soldiers would occupy their houses for rest, leaving them to sleep outside in the cold. Every now and then, they took away the village's weapons, which were the only means of survival against wild beasts. The gluttony Shin-Ra men didn't spare even their food, at times, leaving the children hungry. They prayed to their gods, hoping the misery would end and soon, their prayers were answered.

Sephiroth was hurt at first when one of the villagers brought him in. Despite their rough lives, the hospitality of the villagers never changed. They nursed the injured man back to his health, giving him food and aid in abundance. Soon, he was in good shape, thanks to the people of the Gondola village.

After Sephiroth had taken care of a few soldiers on one of their harassing missions, the village hardly had any Shin-Ra trouble. But if at all they did, it was the poor soldiers who paid the price.

And so, the little rural community lived their lives peacefully, thanks to their God-Sent Savior.

The small crowd that gathered in the middle of Gondola village cheered loudly on the arrival of their hero. The silver-haired warrior smiled and respectfully nodded at their applause, acknowledging their smiling faces. The village head standing next to Sephiroth began to speak after clearing his throat.

"People of Gondola…" the old man started, "It's been ages since I, Shoran Jabez, was handed over the leadership of this village. And now, I am too old to carry the responsibility. I was worried from the moment I realized my end as your leader was near. Worried that I may not find a man worthy enough to carry this village on his shoulders. But my cry was heard and answered. And today I stand before you, proud to say that your new leader from this day forth will be none other than the man who changed our lives… the man who we all love… the man who's like a son to me… please welcome your new leader, Sephiroth!"

The gathering went wilder than before. They cheered so loud that their echoes could be heard even outside the village perimeters. Sephiroth once again acknowledged their applause. Though he didn't know who he was, all that mattered to him was the difference he made to the people gathered in front of them. Soon, they stopped their clapping and cheering, ready to listen to what Sephiroth had to say.

"It's been a long time since I was brought to your beautiful village. Though I've forgotten who I am, I'll never forget the warmth shown to me by all of you. I was hungry and you fed me. I was hurt and you healed me. I was troubled and your kindness comforted me. Words cannot describe adequately the gratitude I feel at the bottom of my heart towards everything I've received from this community. So I consider it my duty to serve and protect this place and its people. If there be anything, anything at all that you need, please feel free to approach me. I'll be more than happy and enthusiastic to carry out the necessary and I promise you, like the past few weeks, Shin-Ra will not touch us."

They once again cheered and whistled.

"I have already decided to send weapons we make to other continents for trade and I am sure our income will increase to great amounts. We can build better homes, eat better food and live better lives. I give you my word; our independence will never be chained, not as long as I am alive. Some of you may think I deal too aggressively with the Shin-Ra. Please know for a fact that I do not wish to do so either. I do believe that everything can be settled without bloodshed or fighting. I do believe non-violence goes a long way. And make no mistake about it, I believe in peace. But what use are words when they fall on deaf ears? What use is non-violence when it goes unheeded? What use is peace when it goes disrespected? What use is love when it is repaid with hate? If Shin-Ra takes advantage of our peace-loving nature to exploit us, if they use our patience and tranquil policies to their advantage, should we not fight fire with fire? An eye for an eye? I am sure they will not come wandering here again, but if they do, I want all of you to pick up your weapons and stand by my side. We are free… We are not here to be used by anyone and nobody can chain our spirits. So stand with me, and I promise you, I'll defend your homes and your lives till my very last breath…"

The multitude was lost for words. They knew at once that their new leader rightfully deserved the honor. They continued to loudly chant Sephiroth's name as the silver-haired warrior and the village's ex-leader walked away from the congregation.

At the end of the village's boundary was a hut from which a young man by the name of Lethan Jabez watched the celebrations. He laughed mockingly as he emptied another glass of gin into his mouth. It wasn't fair. He was the legal person to be crowned the leader, not someone they found a few weeks ago. It was he who was Shoran Jabez's son. He remembered his father promising him a long time ago that he would give the village's leadership to him once he was old. But now, every dream he had built on that promise was wrecked, thanks to the new arrival. He hated Sephiroth. No matter how nice Sephiroth was to him, he loathed his very presence. He took the bottle of gin and emptied it in a draught as the door of his hut slowly opened, revealing the face of his father.

"What do you want?" Lethan spat out bluntly, intoxicated from the drinking.

"Join us for dinner…"

"I won't eat some crap cooked for some stupid new leader…" he mumbled, "Don't disturb me, get out…"

"What are your so bitter about son?"

"HAH!" Lethan sprung to his feet, bottle in hand, "You really don't know? Well, let me enlighten you pop. I am your son. I should be the new leader dammit!"

"………………"

"Nobody has the right to take that away from me! Not even some goddamn idiot who saves your sorry asses everyday!"

"You want to know son? You want to know why I chose him…?"

"You have a reason, dear old dad?"

"Very well…" the old man cleared his throat, "I don't think you can handle it, Lethan. Look at you, all you do is drink and sleep your life away. Has there been a single time when you went hunting for even a rabbit? Was there a single time you brought back at least a fruit for that matter? And how do you spend the money I give you? Do you save it? No, you spend it one wine, gin and whiskey. You get all your work done for you using my name and there hasn't been one thing, trust me on this Lethan, there hasn't been one thing you did that showed me even half a quality of a good leader. This village's well-being is important to me and if you think I'll leave it all in the hands of an irresponsible kid like you, think again…"

He slammed the door and left the young Jabez alone in the hut. Lethan flung the empty bottle at the door, breaking it into pieces. He leaned back on his bed and sulked quietly in the dark as the sound of people cheering Sephiroth continued to fall on his ears…

* * *

A/N: There… long chapter…

Please review…


	7. CHAPTER 6

**_Chapter 6_**

The golden saucer's airship service had emptied all of Sifan Leonhart's pockets. However, the trip back to the glacian village was smooth, fast and well worth the money. Within an hour, the airship had managed to land outside the snowy plains of glacia and soon enough, Setzin was under the custody of the village elders much to the content of a relieved Sifan Leonhart. The last thing he needed was another tragedy caused by Avatar.

Phillona, Trex and Marlene stood near Setzin's bed, helping the village elder treat Setzin's wounds. The SeeD stood leaning on the wall of the small room, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"The injuries are not severe…" said the glacian elder as he wrapped a bandage around the poacher's elbow, "But he needs rest… perhaps two or three days…"

"Geez, Avatar whooped ya pretty good…" Trex said with a sheepish grin, "He's gone nuts these days, huh?"

Only silence filled the air.

"There…" the elder said, smiling at Setzin, "All you need now is plenty of sleep…"

Assured that Setzin's condition was better, Sifan exited the room and made his way outside the cottage. He looked up at the sky across which the evening sun cast its orange glow. A ladder leading to the roof of the cottage caught the young Leonhart's attention. He quickly climbed the ladder and walked across the roof slowly as an eagle circled over his head. Hoping to be disturbed by no one, he sat on the edge of the roof, lazily leaning on the chimney.

The eagle flew away to the horizon, its distinctive outline clearly visible against the sun setting between the snow-covered mountains. The view was breathtakingly beautiful, reminding the young Leonhart of the sight he used to see from the balcony of Balamb garden.

Memories and reminiscences of home came stumbling into his mind. All of a sudden, there was a longing at the bottom of his heart to see, to hear and to feel the sights and sounds of his world. The swaying daffodils of the flower fields, the crystal clean shores of balamb, the tall ominous buildings of Esthar, the lonely but beautiful Cetra ruins, the peaceful little town of Winhill, the shiny corridors of Balamb garden and of course, the placed he called home. He thought about things he used to see everyday that now seemed so distant. His father's ever calm attitude, his mother's warmth, Zell's explosive personality, Irvine's flirty way of handling life, and Selphie's enthusiastic outlook… it all seemed like things he once knew in his previous life. How was he ripped away from all that? Without the slightest warning or caution, he was swept away into a world that didn't even exist in the slightest of his dreams… how did it all go so crazy so fast…?

"Okay, that's enough…" came Phillona's voice from behind him, "Don't think yourself to death…"

Sifan sighed, "How did you know I was here…?"

"Well…" she chimed as she walked to the young Leonhart, "isn't it natural to get curious when you hear someone walking on your roof?"

"…………"

"I thought it might be a burglar…" she said, munching on a sandwich, "But turns out… it's something far worse…"

"…………"

"Sifan, the silent zombie… now on a rooftop near you…"

"Very funny…"

"Isn't he amazing folks? He-"

Phillona was so lost in her sarcasm that she didn't watch her step. She stepped on a loose tile and slipped, losing her balance completely. Fortunately, Sifan Leonhart's reflexes were fast and he managed to pull her back from the edge.

She breathed heavily as she sat near Sifan.

"Wow… I almost died…" she gasped, still in shock.

"Nah… you wouldn't have died from this height… you probably would've broken a bone or two… three if today's a lucky day…"

"You think you're so funny, don't you, Sifan Leonhart?"

"Nope…"

"Oh great… now you're going into one of your dim-witted trademark monosyllable moods…?"

"Yup…"

"You'll never change, will you?"

"Nope…"

Speaking in monosyllables was one of those things about Sifan Leonhart that Phillona Strife couldn't stand. Another thing that annoyed her was his ignorant attitude that he employed by doing what he pleased, even if it upset a thousand people around him. Worse yet was his infuriating habit of inserting sarcastic comments where it was least necessary. Even more atrocious was the cold shoulder that he gave to even the nicest of people. There were a hundred things she hated about him and logically, these things were supposed to make her hate him inside out. That was the problem with Phillona Strife. Even a million hateful things about Sifan Leonhart couldn't change the way she felt for him.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, hoping he wouldn't pull away but Sifan's aversion for affection got the better of him. He gently pulled away from Phillona and made his way down the ladder, once again leaving the mako-eyed girl feeling empty and disheartened.

* * *

The Shin-Ra camp constituted rows of concrete-made storage blocks and bunkers besides first-aid units and ammo storehouses. It was located near the outskirts of the Gondola village and was home for many a Shin-Ra soldier, especially for the ones that were away from home on military service. Besides being a storage camp, it also served as a refreshment center for on-the-move Shin-Ra personnel. Shin-Ra officials who frequently passed by made it a point to stop and rest in the camp, mostly without prior permission from higher authorities. 

Professor Lorenz tried very hard to doze off for a long afternoon nap but it was of no avail. His mind was restless and the reasons were no mystery. He had worked his twisted mind off its seat ever since the idea of re-opening project Jenova had obsessed his mind. Countless trips to the northern crater, sleepless nights, innumerable phone calls and faxes, hours and hours of digging the Shin-Ra database, and even a murder to aid his purpose. That was how desperate he was to bring the one called Sephiroth under his control. Just when he thought he had almost done it, things happen and there he was in the Shin-Ra camp, driving himself crazy over how he was going to get Sephiroth again. Even his wickedly devious mind failed to return ideas or plots to carry out his cause. And for the first time, Lorenz didn't know what to do. He sighed as he sat on his bed, scratching his head and continuing to rack his mind.

After an hour, still only a blank head to his credit, he made his way out of his room towards the canteen for lunch. As he crossed a bunker, he came across a couple of drunk soldiers interrogating an angry young man.

"I am telling ya guys, I was just passing through on my way home…" the young man insisted, "Honest…"

"Don't lie, kid…" hissed the irate Shin-Ra soldier, "What makes ya think we're gonna believe ya? I bet you were here ta check out our high-profile Shin-Ra sneak attack training manuals…"

"Training manuals my ass…" fumed the boy, "I was just going home dammit! It's close by… believe me!"

"Really?" queried the other soldier sarcastically, raising an eyebrow, "Where do ya live?"

"Gondola village…" the boy replied angrily.

That was all Lorenz needed to hear.

"Gentlemen…" interrupted Professor Lorenz as he walked up to the two soldiers and the boy, "I'll take care of the young man here…"

Hoping the Shin-Ra scientist would make the boy a test subject for a cruel experiment, the soldiers scurried away to the canteen to fill their growling stomachs. The professor put a friendly arm around the boy's shoulder as they walked back towards Lorenz's room.

"Don't worry…" Lorenz assured, "You can go after I ask you a few things… So tell me young man, what's your name…?"

"Lethan… Lethan Jabez…"

"Okay… you're from Gondola village you say…" the professor hummed as he allowed the boy into his room and closed the door behind him.

"Yeah…" the boy replied hurriedly as Lorenz turned on his laptop, "What do you want with me…?"

"Nothing much…" the scientist assured as the boy stood scanning the calendar picture of a Shin-Ra battle robot, "Just a little help…"

"Help?" the boy raised an eyebrow while Lorenz continued to work on his laptop, "Listen mister, I don't work for free and-"

"100,000 gils."

The boy's eyes widened at the mention of the amount. He stood there in shock as Lorenz placed his laptop on the table and turned it towards Lethan. The scientist pointed to the image of Sephiroth's face flickering on the screen and cleared his throat.

"Recognize him?" Lorenz asked slowly as the Lethan eyed the image with pure hatred in his eyes.

"Yeah… of course, how can I forget that bastard…" came the more-than-honest reply.

"Oh my… what a touchy little start we have here…" Lorenz quipped, "May I know why all the bitterness?"

Lethan Jabez hesitated at first but soon found himself spilling out the story to the eager Shin-Ra scientist. Unloading the entire tale with all the anger, hate and jealousy had never been so easy. He blurted out everything that had happened since the day Sephiroth had landed up in the village. The scientist listened carefully, observing the ever-so-obvious fact that Lethan loathed the very mention of Sephiroth.

"I see…" Lorenz hummed, putting his fingers together, "So our soldier is a hero in your village, eh?"

"Soldier?" the boy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes, of course, let me explain…" the professor said, reaching for his laptop. He displayed several photos of Sephiroth from archives that dated back to the days when Sephiroth served in SOLDIER. The images showed him with other Shin-Ra soldiers in various locations of the world like Junon, Midgar, and other prime Shin-Ra locations. From looking at the pictures, Lethan could easily make out that Sephiroth had something to do with Shin-Ra.

"You see…" Lorenz continued, "Sephiroth is one of us…"

"I knew it!" Lethan jumped to his feet, "I knew there was something fishy about that son of a bitch!"

"Calm down now…" Lorenz said, surprised over how easily the boy had bought the story, "It's like this. Sephiroth is our top soldier and HQ gave him the mission of taking over Gondola village. But on his way here, to the Shin-Ra camp…er… there was this little accident outside your village… and the poor fellow lost his memory… but its temporary really… it's just a matter of time before he gets it back and carries on with his mission… that is… making your little village Shin-Ra property…"

The boy looked at Lorenz suspiciously, "Why are you telling me all this…?"

"Because…" Lorenz leaned back on his chair, "The general in charge of retrieving Sephiroth is my friend… and he's anxious to have Sephiroth back, he's our top soldier see… you're gonna help us get him back…"

"Think about it Lethan…" Lorenz continued his blatant manipulation, "100,000 gils… you wouldn't earn that in a lifetime… and if you expose Sephiroth for the Shin-Ra soldier he really is… you'll gain their trust… and the you'll be the new leader… isn't that everything you want…? of course, you can also walk away from all of this and let things be the way-"

"No…" Lethan snapped, "No way I am gonna let Sephiroth lead my village…"

He remained silent as Lorenz printed out the laptop images in paper and handed the photos to the young boy. The scientist opened his briefcase and removed a small tablet and a cell phone. He thought for a while before placing them in Lethan's pocket.

Lethan got up from the chair, stuffing the photos in his pocket, "I still don't understand something… why can't you just come, talk to Sephiroth and take him back?"

"Listen, son…" Lorenz said bluntly, "If you don't want to do things my way… then-"

"Okay okay… I'll do it…"

"Good…"

"So I'll call you once I get there…?"

"Yes…" Lorenz nodded as the boy got ready to leave, "Just do exactly as I say and you'll be rich AND you'll be the leader of your village… trust me…"

The door clicked shut, leaving the demented scientist alone in his room. Professor Lorenz leaned on his chair and remained lost in his thoughts for a while before breaking into hysterical laughter.

* * *

**_Sifan…_**

_What do you want?_

_**Nothing… I just want to talk…**_

_There's nothing to talk about, Lyris… leave me alone… the last thing I need to talk about is stuff like destiny… or big words like that…_

_**Hey, I'm sure I can talk about other things too…**_

_Oh really…?_

_**Hmmm… Why, you have something you want to talk about…?**_

_Nah… not really…_

_**It's ok… go ahead… tell me…**_

_Uh… okay fine… I-It's Phillona…_

_**I thought you'd never- ahem… What about Phillona…?**_

_S-She… I… don't know why… I…_

_**She you what?**_

_Lyris, t-this girl likes me… and hell, I know how much…_

_**It took you so long to realize that?**_

_I am slow at these things but I am not stupid…_

_**Okay… and?**_

_I am afraid…_

_**Afraid?**_

_Yeah… Afraid…_

_**Afraid you may end up feeling the same way about her…?**_

_I don't want to take that risk…_

_**So you just withdraw, run away and abscond?**_

_I have to… If I don't run away… I'll end up feeling something for her… that feeling will grow and multiply into a million more… and before I know it, I'll be neck deep in love with her… I'll want her beside me all the time…. I'll need her every minute I am awake… she'll become my world… my everything… without her, I wouldn't even exist-_

_**Ahem… the way you're thinking… I think it's already too late…**_

_All I am saying is… all that will happen and one fine day, she'll be gone, just like Avatar…_

_**It's up to you… just remember that there are some things in this world that are always worth the risk… That's all I can say…**_

_Whatever…_

_**Hey, by the way, I think it's high time you call me by my real name…**_

_You have a real name…?_

_**Yeah… Call me Aeris…**_

* * *

A/N: PleAsE ReVieW 


	8. CHAPTER 7

_**Chapter 7**_

Sifan Leonhart lay awake, his ocean blue eyes fixed on the ceiling above him. Sleeping trouble was nothing new for the young Leonhart and he sighed as he rolled in his bed, pulling the bedspread over his shoulders. His eyes fell on the blinking digits of the clock at the far end of the room. 1:00 AM.

_Damn… I need some sleep… or else I'll be snoozing in tomorrow's battles…_

Trex, Marlene and Phillona had tried their best to persuade Sifan against continuing the golden saucer battle but the SeeD had refused to change his mind. He knew it would be his only chance to perhaps settle things with Avatar, but more importantly it gave him something to do other than sitting alone by himself and driving his mind crazy.

The golden saucer's airship services were efficient and Sifan knew the aircraft would be waiting from him outside the village at 7 in the morning whether he liked it or not. Failing to show up would only cost Sifan a lot of money. The brown-haired boy tossed in his bed again, wondering whether he'll make it past the starting battle the next day. From what he had heard about Falcon Blade, he couldn't help measure the task he had ahead of him. Nothing much was known about the warrior except that he was a merciless swordsman from a town called Kalm in the Midgar continent.

_Setzin probably knows more about him… but I guess he's in no condition to talk…_

He threw himself off his bed, deciding that perhaps a walk in the midnight breeze might make him feel a little sleepy. He drank a glass of water and proceeded out of the cottage, making sure he didn't make too much noise as he slipped outside the door. Just like he expected, a suave breeze blew across his face. The village's snow-filled walkways looked deserted, with all it's occupants resting inside their houses from a hard day's work. He put his hands in his coat pockets and slowly walked across the line of snow-capped houses. Just as he was about to cross one of them, he heard a loud grunt from the window behind him. He leaned back and looked into it, wondering who was awake at that time of the night.

Phillona Strife was busy taking it out on a leather punching bag suspended by a chain in the middle of the room. The object swayed up and down in the pale moonlight that trickled in through the window as droplets of sweat ran down the sides of her face. She gave the bag a hard kick as Sifan gently opened the door and peeked inside.

Phillona tightened the hair band around her ponytail as she turned her head in Sifan's direction, "Can't sleep, huh?"

"Yeah…" he replied as Phillona continued to pummel the target with her fists.

The SeeD walked up to her and the next thing he knew, Phillona drove her gloved hand straight through his stomach, making him clench his abdomen in pain, "Hey! What was THAT for?"

"THAT was for walking out on me earlier…" she replied calmly, drinking a bottle of water.

"Dammit, I don't deserve this…" he quipped as he breathed heavily, still crouched from the pain.

"Of course, you don't…" she said sarcastically, "What YOU deserve is-"

"Whoa, take it easy…" the brown-haired boy coughed, backing away from Phillona, "God, where did you learn to punch like that…?"

"It's in my blood…" Phillona Strife replied as she removed her hair band and allowed the brown tresses of hair to fall behind her, "But don't tell me Sifan Leonhart, you can't take one stupid punch…"

"You caught me off guard…" Sifan replied promptly as he rubbed his stomach, "I wasn't expecting it…"

"Whatever…" she mumbled as she removed her gloves.

"My-"

"Your line, great, now shut up…"

"………….."

_She's in one of her moods, alright…_

"Go get yourself some sleep…" Phillona said as she made her way to the restroom, "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow…."

"WE? I don't think so…" Sifan started but Phillona had already clicked the door shut.

_Great…_

Sifan exited the cottage and stood outside, hugging himself and looking up at the cloudless sky. A few stars were scattered her and there in reckless abandon making it look as if nature was too tired to make the night look beautiful. He sighed and made his way back to his room. He opened the door again and slowly walked up the wooden stairs past Phillona's room and into his. He closed the door behind him and stood in front of the window, staring at the lights across the horizon on top of Lichita hills. He sat down on the edge of his bed and at once, his mind began to wander.

Several minutes passed as he sat alone, recalling the events of that cold snowy night.

His words were cold… dead cold… "Run… Run away…"

_Maybe I should have… Maybe I should have just run away…it would've been easier if I had run… _

Before Sifan Leonhart could think something more, the door of his room gently creaked open. He looked up as Phillona slowly made her way into his room with a lazy look on her face. Her mild fragrance drifted through his senses as she sat near him and looked at him calmly.

"Didn't I tell you to sleep…?" she whispered.

"Since when did I take orders from you…?"

"You want me to punch you again…?"

"Er, No…"

"Good…" she smiled, "You're scared of me…"

"Petrified…"

"Is that why you can't sleep…?"

"Absolutely…"

"Give the sarcasm a rest Sifan Leonhart…"

"Who? Me?"

"You love irritating me, don't you…?"

"Yup…"

"I am gonna punch you in your stomach again if you don't stop…"

"…………."

"Hey… wow… that shut you up…"

"Whatever…"

"I must have hit you pretty hard back there huh?" she smiled sheepishly, "I am sorry if I did…"

"Yes… I was fatally wounded and this is my corpse talking…"

"Stop trying to be cute…" she smiled, "It's working…"

The moon eased its way out of the clouds, its light gently shining on Phillona's face. The long tresses of velvet hair made her look breathtakingly beautiful. Sifan tried to look away from her sparkling eyes but it was too late, his gaze was already lost in her's. His eyes didn't seem to want to obey him.

"Stop staring at me like a puppy who wants a hug…" she said, tilting her head and smiling at him, "It's too tempting…"

"Er… Nah… I was just thinking… that's all…"

"About what…?"

"About… er… um… chocobos…"

"Chocobos…?" she raised an eyebrow, "It's 2:00 in the morning and you're thinking about Chocobos…?"

"Er… Yeah…"

"Chocobos…."

"Yeah… I especially like those ones that have a… a… beak and…er …"

"You like chocobos with beaks, huh?" she said throwing back her hair, "Wow… I like the ones with feathers…"

"Very funny…" he muttered, managing a faint smile.

"Good night, Seef…" she leaned over to him and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, "Sleep tight…"

With that, she walked away, quietly closing the door behind her as she left.

Sifan Leonhart lay down on his bed, his eyes staring at the door. He pulled a blanket over himself for warmth and soon found himself drifting off to sleep… he felt pleased that the walk had really helped him in easing his mind… he ignored the little thought at the back of his head telling him that it wasn't the walk...

* * *

Lethan Jabez threw a sleazy smile at a passer-by as he slowly knocked on Sephiroth's room with his left hand, while his right hand steadily held a tray holding a glass of milk. After a few seconds, the door clicked open and Sephiroth's mako green eyes fell on Lethan. Hiding his surprise, the silver-haired man greeted him with a smile, "Good evening Lethan…"

The young man smiled sheepishly and spoke in a mild voice, "Uh… can we talk?"

"Sure…" Sephiroth nodded opening the door and gesturing the young man into his room, "Make yourself at home…"

A few minutes of ironic silence hung between the two of them before Lethan opened his mouth to speak, placing the tray with the glass of milk on the nearby table, "Well, uh…. The cook asked me to give this to you…"

Sephiroth nodded with a smile, "Well, Thank you… I could've collected it myself… you really didn't have to take the trouble …"

"Well….um…" Lethan hummed, scratching his head, "Well…. I don't know how to put this really but uh…. You and I haven't exactly been in good terms all along… so I thought…. Well… er…. I'd kinda you know… say sorry for-"

"It's alright…" Sephiroth interrupted, "No hard feelings… I hold nothing against you… and I hope you can put any bitterness against me behind you…"

"Of course… Well… guess we're friends now, huh?" Lethan said, sounding like a kid who had just made a new friend.

Sephiroth smiled casually, "Of course, why not?"

"Well…" Lethan grinned awkwardly, shaking Sephiroth's hand, "I better be goin' now…"

The silver-haired warrior smiled as he watched the young Jabez exit his room, closing the door behind him. He sat down on his bed as he slowly sipped the glass of milk that was just brought to his room.

Lethan had taken care to make the drink look warm and delicious… without a single sign that it was mixed with Lorenz's deadly drug….

* * *

Phillona Strife and Sifan Leonhart made their way across the crowded battle square entrance towards the arena. Sifan Leonhart was still unsure as to what he should expect from his opponent in the upcoming fight. He had tried his best to find out more but people either seemed to have no idea of who 'Falcon Blade' was or they confused him with other contemporary fighters. Finally, the young Leonhart had decided he would prepare for the worst and expect the best. Phillona on the other hand, was more worried about what would happen if Sifan Leonhart beat Falcon Blade. He would have to face Avatar in the next battle and very prospect of that didn't exactly make her comfortable.

Their thoughts were interrupted when the speaker cracked into life, "Calling all contestants…. Today's battles will start at 10:00 A.M… I repeat… Today's battles will commence at 10:00 A.M… Please refer to the notice board for further details…"

"I am up first…" Sifan muttered turning to Phillona, "I'll need to get to the locker room and get ready… don't get lost…"

"Very funny…" she tilted her head and smiled, "You'll win this one… I have this feeling you will…"

"We'll see…" Sifan said, recalling the sight of falcon blade's last victim lying on the ground with the sword planted on his chest.

"Take care…" Phillona mumbled, toying with the Phoenix pendant on the SeeD's chest, "Be careful…"

"Like I said…" Sifan nodded, "Don't get lost…"

Phillona Strife watched Sifan Leonhart walk away towards the locker room with a glint in her eye. She didn't notice a beautiful blonde walk up and stand beside her.

"Nice catch, sweetheart…"

"Huh?" Phillona turned to the young woman, "Do I know you…?"

"Don't believe you do…" Aura said, flicking her hair backwards, "My name is Aura… I fought your boyfriend yesterday…"

"Oh…Er… Seef's not really my boyfriend…" Phillona corrected Aura, "Hey, You're the one that used a meteor on him…"

"Er… yeah…" Aura smiled sheepishly, "But hey… nothing happened right…?"

"It's okay… He didn't take it too personally…"

"So…" Aura hummed as they walked to the Arena's spectator stand, "You have a name…?"

"Sorry…." Phillona smiled, "I am Phillona Strife… a friend of Seef…"

"Cool… nice to meet ya…"

"Oh by the way…" Phillona queried, "Do you know any idea about this 'Falcon Blade'?"

"Wait…. let me see…" Aura mused, "Hmm… Jack WAS saying something about him…"

"Well?"

"Oh yeah…. He's that guy from Kalm…"

"Go on…."

"Shit…"

"What?"

"We need to talk to Sifan…. fast… real fast…"

"Why…?" Phillona asked as she and Aura ran to the locker room.

"The Ragnarok…" Aura said hastily as she threw open the door, only to stare into an empty room, "He's gone… we're too late…"

"Wait…" Phillona said, panting, "What is this… 'Ragnarok'?"

"It's this spell…" the blonde-haired girl replied, "If a person uses it on his or her opponent, it connects the user to his opponent's materia… and if they're on the same level of vitality… it chooses the most powerful materia from the opponent and calls that spell against it's owner…"

"So what you're saying is…" Phillona said hurriedly, "If I have a really powerful fire materia among a few less powerful materia… and my opponent uses the 'Ragnarok' spell on me… it summons a fire spell against me…?"

"Yeah…the problem here is…" Aura said, "Sifan's most powerful materia is not fire or thunder or...anything of that sort..."

Phillona's eyes widened, "It's Bahamut…"

* * *

A/N: Please Review.. 


	9. CHAPTER 8

_**Chapter 8**_

Sifan Leonhart fixed his ocean blue eyes on the drawbridge opening out in front of him amidst belligerent screams from the audience. Phillona Strife and Aura waved frantically to get the young Leonhart's attention but his mind was nowhere near the spectator stands. His eyes were busy watching the silhouette of his opponent approaching from the open drawbridge. Soon, Falcon Blade stood before him, and Sifan didn't expect anything less than what he saw in front of him.

Falcon Blade's build alone unsettled Sifan's confidence. He was a massive warrior, towering to over six and a half feet in height. His attire was like that of a knight complete with a well-knit chain mail and a blue cape. A black cloth was tied firmly around his waist, fastening a sword holster to his hip. His jaw was firm and his deep brown eyes were sturdy. Along his left cheek were thin scars reaching down to his jaw line. His eyebrows were thick and his forehead was covered by dark hair lined with gray. A brown Falcon was perched on his shoulder armor. It eyed the young boy in front of it sternly with a piercing glare. The warrior readied himself for the battle, removing his sword from its sheath, allowing it to glisten before the SeeD's eyes.

The handle was richly carved in bronze with a shinning red gem buried in the middle of the hilt. The sword's fuller was broad and it continued that way along the blade till it ended conically at the tip. The sword's gleam was so bright that it showed against its owner's chain mail. Sifan had read in numerous magazines in Balamb that swords like the one in front of him were made centuries ago when knights were in constant battle with dragons. Hence, he had read, they were aptly named 'Knight Blades'. Back in Esthar, even a small part of the sword was considered a priceless relic but there it was, right before his eyes, in its entirety.

Falcon Blade remained silent as the announcer continued his ranting. Sifan, on the other hand, stood uneasily a few feet away, wondering whether he should start the fight on the offensive or not. Before he could decide, the announcer abruptly ended his talking and at once, came the shrill ring of the bell, signaling that the fight was officially underway.

Sifan's opponent was on him in a flash, aiming his sword straight for the brown-haired boy's stomach. The SeeD swayed out of its path, the blade missing him by inches. Swinging out his gunblade at once, he waited patiently. His opponent however, was in no mood for games. He jumped into the young Leonhart's space, ready to unleash all sorts of hell. Sifan promptly blocked the first shot, the second and the third but the dark-haired warrior didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping. He repeatedly assaulted him with furious swings, even if every one of them were met with a sturdy block from the SeeD. Sifan's arms ached with every vibration that shook them but he held his ground and met all his adversary's attacks with the middle of his sword. His father had thought him that each block had to be aided with a backward step; the tactic seemed to help reduce the force of contact but soon, he found himself retreating backwards towards the edge of the ring. In a few seconds, his feet were inches away from the border of the battle ring. One step outside meant falling into the water, disqualifying him at once. Falcon Blade's breathing grew harder as he continued to wear his opponent out. Sifan's arms were begging for a rest, but before he could put them to pain any longer, the attacker stopped for a breather.

Sifan's senses immediately suggested he counter attack. He tightened his grip around the gunblade and swung at his opponent, but Falcon Blade stepped to the side, causing the SeeD to stumble forward. Before his adversary could take the upper hand, he swung his weapon around, hoping he could catch the warrior off guard in case he was moving in for a counter attack. No contact was made; the SeeD regained his posture, surveying his opponent carefully. The brown-haired boy's eyes lit up when he noticed that his opponent was standing at the edge of the ring. And one powerful shoulder push was all it would take to knock him outside. He ran straight into his opponent, his sword lifted over his shoulders. Falcon Blade at once readied himself for the block. Instead of using both his hands for defense, the warrior held the sword with only one hand. The move looked peculiar, but Sifan assumed his opponent was just underestimating him. And that was exactly what the young Leonhart wanted to see.

Injecting every ounce of strength into his arm, he swung the gunblade hard at his opponent, hoping the contact with the weak-handed block would allow him to lose balance and leave him open-chested. He knew he was hoping for too much, but it was still worth a shot. The blades made heavy contact and the result of the impact favored Sifan. Much to his surprise and satisfaction, the force of the strike caused Falcon Blade's arm to pull back, leaving him defenseless to any other attack. Sifan used the momentum of his run to try and shove a hard shoulder straight into his opponent's chest. He almost thought he had it before realizing the folly of it all a second too late.

_Damn…_

No experienced swordsman would be stupid enough to make a one-handed block. It was the basic of the basics, the first thing even an amateur would know. A block wasn't a block until and unless both hands are put behind it. Falcon Blade wasn't blocking, he was simply lulling Sifan into an over-ambitious attack, and the SeeD had played into it perfectly. The moment he saw his adversary block with a single hand, he tried to hammer the 'block' away. And when it looked like he was successful, he had already forgotten one very simple fact. His opponent's _other_ hand was still free.

Falcon Blade's free hand shot out and clenched Sifan's neck before his shoulder could even come near to making any kind of contact. The grip tightened, causing the brown-haired boy to choke at once. With a mighty hurl, the massive warrior threw him into the air. The Seed landed with a hard thud a few feet away, gunblade still in hand. A violent pain gripped his back as he got back to his feet. He felt like a fool for trying to win by pushing his opponent into the water. That worked only for Taurus and his little buddy. This was a man who had left a fighter lying on the ground wearing his own sword like a shish kebab.

Still, Sifan knew he had to win, somehow, someway. He felt it might be his only chance to confront Avatar Fenis.

The young Leonhart watched his opponent approach him with a determined look to finish the battle as the crowd continued cheering for a fiercer battle. He concentrated on his fire materia and aimed it straight at his adversary. The first spell headed straight for his chest, scorching the air along the way. The warrior blocked it at once with his sword, and waited for more spells his opponent might pull out. Sifan gathered up a second fire spell but before he could release it, a huge blizzaga shard was already on its way, heading straight for his heart. He released the fire materia in a useless direction and rolled out of the ice projectile in the last minute. Before he could focus on the battle again, he saw Falcon Blade head straight for him, concentrating on another blizzaga spell. This time, three sharp, medium-sized shards came whizzing with a howl, all of them diverging away from him. Rolling away wasn't an option. Jump? No, the shards were not that low. Duck? The shards weren't that high either. Stranded before a perfectly aimed blizzaga spell, the SeeD pulled out his sword to hopefully, try and block the middle shard. It didn't quite work like the young Leonhart would have wanted it to. The blizzaga shard missed the weapon entirely, Sifan closed his eyes and pulled his face away but the tip of the shard grazed the lower part of his neck near his left shoulder, drawing blood at once. Sifan backed away a few steps, clenching his neck in pain, as another horde of icy knives whizzed past him.

Falcon Blade raised his blade and ran towards the young Leonhart. He leapt into the air, his sword raised over his back with both his hands. Sifan knew he would be dissected perfectly into half if he didn't get the hell away from his opponent. He rolled away as his foe crashed his sword into the wooden floor under him. The blade went right through the wood and wedged itself tightly into the ground. Falcon Blade's eyes widened with the realization that he had put a little too much effort into the attack.

Sifan eyes lit up and at once, he set straight for his opponent. He swung the blade at his enemy with all his might, hoping he could at least break the chain mail that Falcon Blade was wearing, but the man dodged the attack, causing Sifan's gunblade to connect with the jammed sword. The contact was hard enough to dislodge the weapon, sending it spinning into the air towards the far side of the ring. Sifan turned towards his unarmed adversary. Hoping to take full advantage of the situation, he lunged at his opponent for a sword attack, but Falcon Blade dodged him with a jump, and then with a quick turn, he darted across the ring for his weapon.

The SeeD concentrated his fire spells and aimed them at the figure running towards the far corner. A scorching line of fira spells screamed into life and at once burnt the target's back, scalding him badly. The fire materia had grown powerful and its effects were even more so. A quick succession of more fira spells followed, all of them reaching their target with ease, causing heights of burning agony for its victim. Soon, the warrior fell on his knees, his right hand desperately reaching for the sword, his left hand holding his scalded back in pain. A badly burnt Falcon Blade got back to his feet and spun around towards the SeeD, gritting his teeth in anger and pain. His eyes burning with fury, he stretched out his hand towards the young Leonhart and smiled as he cast a spell known as 'The Ragnarok'.

A strange green light surrounded Sifan and soon it condensed into his gunblade handle. He then saw the weirdest thing happen to his red summon materia fixed into his weapon's slot. It started to glow in an eerie green. Suddenly, the crowd went numb and the next thing he heard was a mighty roar from above him.

Bahamut hollered powerfully as he landed with a menacing thud in front of a confused young Leonhart.

"I didn't summon you…" Sifan spoke slowly as the dragon God stood before him eyeing him strangely, "Something's not-"

A giant swipe from the dragon missed the SeeD by inches, the claws missing his face narrowly. Sifan backed away, his eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" the brown-haired boy screamed, "I am not the enemy, dammit!"

The dragon roared louder as it advanced towards the young Leonhart. And then, somehow, thanks to the shocked and silent crowd, Aura's frantic screams reached his ears. But he couldn't take his eyes off the beast in front of him. Only a fool would. Slowly he backed away from the dragon, trying to hear Aura's voice that seemed to be coming from behind him.

"He's not under your command…" he heard her say at the top of her voice, "It's a spell… he's under a spell… get outta there dammit! You're gonna get-"

Sifan had no time to hear the rest. The dragon seemed to be gathering his breath for a flare. And Sifan knew better than to stick around and watch the rest. He dashed across the dragon as fast as he can. Bahamut's tail headed straight for his feet as the dragon tried to sweep the SeeD off the ground. Sifan's reflexes were fortunately fast enough, and he managed to jump over it in time. He made straight for his opponent at the far corner, hoping he could somehow stop the impending madness. The next thing he heard was a rampant roar and soon he could feel Bahamut lighting up a flare in his mouth. Sifan continued to run but it was too late. The air behind him lit up as if somebody had switched on a megawatt of stadium lights towards him from the back. He saw his shadow in front of him get longer against the light from Bahamut's flare that headed straight for his back. Sifan grit his teeth and closed his eyes, and the next thing he knew, he felt his back ache like a thousand daggers had been plundered into them. It was worse than having his spine on fire. He screamed in torment as he fell to the ground, the pain continued to linger. Soon, the air was back to the way it was, and he could see the ground around him was still smoking. The skin on his back felt like it had been ripped away. He struggled to his feet, sweat pouring down his face and faced Bahamut, barely able to stand. He dropped his weapon to the ground and clenched his back. The SeeD jacket had been burnt away and he could feel only tatters of his shirt and burnt skin. He stood weakly as the dragon God headed straight for him, flying close to the ground.

_He's just getting started… That wasn't even half a flare…_

Sifan knew he had to do something before Bahamut grew intolerant. And having himself mega flared to hell, along with the rest of the ring was not an option. His back was killing him, and he felt like collapsing but still he stood, awkwardly managing to sustain his balance. Time and everything else seemed against him as he watched the dragon fly straight for him with open jaws.

Saying one last prayer to Hyne if he existed, he swayed to the side, almost losing his balance at once. The dragon's head missed him narrowly as the huge dragon flew past him. At once, he set after the dragon as fast as his feet would carry him.

_Hell, I am crazy, but it just might work…_

Fortunately for the SeeD, the dragon had slowed down his flight to make an immediate turn against the wall. Sifan changed his angle of run and cut across the ring towards the direction the dragon was making his turn. The dragon's strong wings were almost at his reach, but his legs threatened to give way. Deciding it was now or never, with a desperate leap, the young Leonhart jumped on to it's back. He almost fell off as fast as he had got on, and at once Bahamut rose high into the air, determined to shake off the puny little pest on his back. Sifan clung on to the dragon's back with one of his legs chaotically dangling in the air. As the air rushed past his face, he lunged forward, managing to fasten his hands around the long, sturdy neck of the dragon and secure himself on its back. The dragon flew frantically; visibly enraged over the fact that the human clinging on to its neck should've rightfully been fried meat by then.

_If I make it through this, I swear I am never gonna fucking summon this goddamn reptile again!_

Just when he thought he couldn't try anything crazier, another fanatical idea hit him. He pulled himself closer to the dragon's head, his arms still firmly around the beast's neck. He wrapped his legs firmly around the lower half of the beast's neck and stretched his hands towards Bahamut's eyes. With one desperate cry, he covered the dragon's eyes with his hands, blinding it completely.

Bahamut went crazy with fury, anger and irritation. He swirled around in the air twice or thrice, hoping Sifan would just fall off but the SeeD held on with his life, his legs fastened around the dragon's neck and his hands around its eyes. It wasn't the most perfect or heroic picture one could imagine but the entertainment from it all kept the crowd watching with their jaws hanging off their faces. Some of them were still refusing to believe what they were seeing. Phillona and Aura were no exception.

Bahamut's frustration got the better of him and soon, the dragon made another crazy swirl in mid-air and headed blindly in a direction neither Sifan nor itself would've liked; Straight towards the ground….

_Oh crap, here we go…_

Bahamut crashed into the ground with a defiant roar, amidst loud screams from the audience. A violent roar of pain from the dragon echoed across the air as the whole arena shook as if an earthquake hit it and the air resonated with the noise of the impact. Huge cracks were visible on the floor underneath the dragon's still form, as it lay unmoving. The dust cleared and soon, the crowd saw a motionless Sifan lying on top of the dragon.

The crowd began to murmur confusedly as Sifan opened his eyes slowly. He felt his body with his hands trying to see how many of his bones were broken. There were none and at once, he realized that Bahamut had broken his fall, leaving the SeeD uninjured. He got up slowly to his feet and jumped to the ground. He staggered into a walk slowly, his back still aching from the flare he had received earlier and his head in a blurry daze. He turned around to see where his opponent was. He found him, but not quite like he had expected.

Falcon Blade's hand was the only thing visible beneath the huge mass of the dragon. His luck had quickly gone from excellent to rotten and before he could do anything about it, the dragon had already landed on him, crushing him instantly. Falcon Blade's materia were on the ground, dislodged from the sword that lay on the open palm of his hand.

Stealing a dead man's materia didn't exactly prick Sifan's conscience as he knelt down and picked them up. All of them were broken except a couple of them. An Aura materia and a high level ice materia. He quickly put them into his pocket. The eerie green materia that he guessed to be the reason for the chaos was broken into tiny pieces, but he still took the broken bits and put them into his pocket even if they wouldn't be of any use. Somehow, he didn't like the idea of leaving it lying around. Content with the Aura materia, he stood up and dusted himself.

Bahamut had already vanished, his form dissipating into thin air. It would only be a matter of few hours before he recovered. The crowd was cheering wildly, they were getting much more than what they had paid to see. Aura and Phillona were waiting on the other end of the drawbridge, the latter irritated with the fact that Sifan was taking such a long time without moving, just standing there and wondering how he was still alive. Someone had already cleared Falcon's blade body. The young Leonhart could hardly believe what he had done as he smiled faintly to himself and walked towards the exit, ignoring the cheers and screams from the more-than-content crowd.

Phillona Strife was distraught when he arrived at the drawbridge. Half of her wanted to throw her arms around him, the other half wanted to slap his head off his shoulders.

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing back there?" she yelled, "You could've died, dammit!"

"Hey…" Aura hummed, "I thought it was pretty cool… Dragon ridin'… teach me that sometime…."

"Of course!" Phillona snapped, "Look at me, I am Sifan, I ride dragons and- y-you're bleeding!"

"Oh that…" the SeeD reached for the wound left by the blizzaga attack, "Just a… Uh-oh…"

"Keep that wound covered and go straight to the locker room…" Phillona ordered, "I am getting some medicine… Aura, make sure he doesn't run off to mate with iron giants or something…"

Aura roared into laughter as Phillona rushed away to the First-Aid shop at the other end of the hallway.

"You know…" the blonde-haired girl smiled as the two of them walked towards the locker room, "She really likes you… maybe you should…"

"No…" he replied bluntly, "I have more important things to tend to…"

"Like what…?"

"Things you don't need to know…"

"Avatar Fenis, huh?"

"Is that what you two discussed all this time?"

"Now, now, don't hate Phillona, she didn't tell me anything…"

"Then how do you know…?" Sifan turned to Aura, "How…?"

The blonde-haired girl remained silent.

Sifan Leonhart fixed her with a stony glare, "Who the hell are you…?"

* * *

A/N: Well, long time no see, I know... I am sorry about disappearing like this... just too much academics to take... I hate it... I am right now in the middle of exams... but anyways... managed to churn out a chapter... All those who are still holdin' on to this, Thanks a LOT, it means a helluva lot to me... there are some who think I may just stop writing but that's out of the question... (I am not a moron to write 50 odd chapters and just leave it unfinished... ) I've put a lot of heart, soul, effort into this fic... and I SHALL finish it even if the world ends... as far as the updating goes... I'll have one by mid August or earlier if I can, once I am done with my exams... hope you guys liked this long chapter... me hands are aching... Please review... thank you all...  



	10. CHAPTER 9

**Chapter 9**

Aura smiled her usual grin at the young Leonhart before he demanded again, his voice showing no signs of humour, "Who are you? Answer me..."

"Er... can't we talk about something else?" She smiled sheepishly, "There are so many-"

"No."

"In that case..." Aura took a step back, "Adios!"

She spun around and bolted across the shiny hallway and disappeared around a corner, almost knocking down a passer-by. The SeeD considered going after her but his fatigue decided otherwise. He shot a tired glance down the shiny hallway before making his way to the locker room, his hand still clenching his wounded neck.

The locker room was empty much to his content as he sat down on a bench, his body still exhausted from the fight. He removed his sheath from the side of his belt and opened up the revolver of his gunblade. He ran his finger along it's circumference, his eyes surveying every detail put into the metal finish. It was a work of art. He knew his father would've probably helped him upgrade it into a better weapon by now if he had been around. He decided he would leave those honors to Trex once he got back to the village. He felt his stomach growl with hunger as he pushed the gunblade revolver back into its compartment. Just as soon as he finished putting the sword back into it's sheath, he heard the door behind him click.

Phillona Strife walked in to the room, carrying a cardboard box in her arms. She set it down near Sifan's feet as he lazily watched the contents of the box. A number of strangely colored bottles with weird transcriptions, cotton rolls, bandages, ointments and complimentary tissues.

"Uh..." Sifan started, when Phillona removed a bandage from the box, "You know, I think I can manage on my own... Just remind me to pay you for all this stuff later..."

"Oh... okay..." Phillona said, standing up and shrugging, "Go ahead..."

Sifan rummaged through the box, randomly picking up bottles, ointments and reading the minute lettering on their surfaces. Unfortunately for him, the long list of organic chemicals didn't give him a clue as to which one to use. The names were unfamiliar and none of them had instructions or even guidelines for that matter. He sighed and picked up a blue fluid and emptied some of it onto a cotton wad when he heard Phillona sigh.

"Er... something wrong?" he looked up at her, "This stuff will work right...?"

"Well... Yeah... "

"See... I told you I can-"

"You're supposed to drink it..." Phillona pointed out, "Not use it on your wound like that..."

"Hey... I was gonna do just that..." Sifan insisted, the dampened wad of cotton still in hand.

"Yeah, sure, you're gonna squeeze that cotton and empty the drops down your throat?"

"Er... No..." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as Phillona knelt beside him and replaced the bottles Sifan had randomly picked.

"It's just one stupid wound..." the young Leonhart muttered, "It's not like I am going to bleed to death..."

"Okay. Have it your way-"

"Actually..." he sighed when he felt his wound twinge slightly, "Tell me which one to take-"

"Take off your shirt..." she said casually as she opened up a small bottle.

"No way. Uh uh. Forget it."

"Just do it... I don't wanna get this stuff all over your clothes..."

"...No. Don't they have male nurses around this-"

"Sifan Leonhart!" Phillona grew irate, "Will you co-operate for God's sake? I am not asking you to drop your pants, am I? Just your goddamn shirt!"

"Okay... Stop yelling... People might overhear ..."

"I don't care..." she snapped, "Hurry up, before someone else decides to use this locker room..."

Sighing to himself, he removed his coat as Phillona waited behind him. She couldn't help but wear an evil smirk as the young Leonhart removed his T-shirt and sat down on the bench.

While Phillona treated his wounds, Sifan examined the condition of his clothes.

Bahamut's flare had eaten away the threading of his T-shirt and all that remained was a tattered piece of cloth that looked like one of those 'fashionable' T-shirts with long-striped openings. His coat was even worse. Just as he had expected, every strand of the expensive fiber was burnt away and a large, gaping hole stared back at him. Sighing, he flung the coat and the shirt into the bin at the corner of the room, feeling stupid that he had actually wanted to keep them on a minute ago.

After a few complaints of occasional burning, complaints of her being too slow and complaints of her being evil, Phillona finally finished treating Sifan's wounds.

"You make too much of a fuss for a 17-year old, Sifan Leonhart." Phillona remarked as she washed her hands in the restroom, "It's time you grew up a little. There's a T-shirt under the bandages in that box... A Black one... "

Sifan rummaged through the box and removed a T-shirt from it.

"Thanks..." he muttered as he put it on, "And, er... I'm 18 now..."

"What?" Phillona asked in surprise as she walked up to where he was seated, "You mean... you just had your birthday?"

"Two days ago..." Sifan mumbled, "Doesn't really matter, so drop it..."

"You know... you could've told me about it..." Phillona said, "I-"

"Drop it..." Sifan said abruptly as he stood up, "It doesn't matter..."

"Of course it does, Leonhart!" said a familiar voice from behind him, "I remember really well how you liked all that attention you got on your birthday..."

Relafen Almasy walked in with the usual smirk on his face, "Too bad nobody here gives a damn..."

The Shin-Ra commander walked over to the SeeD and shot a sarcastic glare at him, "Happy Birthday, oh son of the Lion heart..."

Phillona looked at Relafen for the first time after their last not-so-wonderful time at Junon. She assumed that Relafen had gotten over her but that didn't prevent her from feeling a little bit uncomfortable. Relafen had openly admitted that he thought Phillona had something for Sifan and that was the reason she had refused to be with him. Back then, Phillona had told the Shin-Ra commander that it wasn't true and the fact was, it wasn't. However, in the eventual flow of things, what Relafen said had come true. She was now, very much in love with the commander's SeeD rival.

"Uh..." she said in a soft voice, "I am gonna go get something for myself to drink..."

She left hurriedly through the exit as Relafen sat down on the bench, his Shin-Ra badge gleaming brightly.

"I watched your little dragon fight Leonhart." Relafen muttered, "You got lucky... you won't be so lucky when you face me... you'll realize that when you watch me beat Fenis tonight..."

"What?" Sifan looked up, "You're facing Avatar? I thought I was..."

"No way Leonhart." Relafen smiled, "First of all, those two morons, Edge and Taurus, disqualified themselves, shortening the number of fixtures. I had one fight, against that Shinobis guy. Fenis had one against that one-eyed guy..."

_Setzin._

"You had two. One against that Aura and the other one where you tried flying around on Bahamut. That means I and Fenis square off tonight, leaving you to face the winner, which, of course, will be me... "

"Once I beat your ass, I'll face of against the other fighters from the other arenas." Relafen said as he fixed the Ifrit materia to his gunblade, "And I'll emerge victorious..."

"I am sure, Relafen." Sifan sighed, "I am sure..."

"That brings me to ask..." Relafen mumbled, "What's with Fenis? How the hell does he know General Keiara? Why isn't he hanging around with you anymore? "

"..."

"Oh... I get it..." Relafen laughed out aloud, "He realized just like I did, that by joining Shin-Ra, he can make something out of himself. I don't like him Leonhart, but hell, I have to say he did the right thing by joining General Keiara. If he's good, I am sure he'll be a commander in no time too..."

"Look what's happening around you Leonhart." the flame-haired commander continued, "Squall Leonhart's reputation and name isn't gonna get you crap around here. There ain't gonna be anyone who'll look at you like that. Ya can't live off your father's glory anymore Leonhart. Not even a single dame is gonna look at ya and drool. 'Leonhart, who?' is probably the response you'll get from people around here. So be wise, get yourself recruited for Shin-Ra and do something with your life. Don't be such a goddamn, pathetic loser..."

Happy that he had made himself heard, Relafen Almasy walked out of the locker room, winking at a few girls that passed by him. Sifan heaved a tired sigh as Phillona walked in with a paper bag in her hand. She removed a can of cola and tossed it to Sifan as she took a seat near him. Sifan quietly drank the cola as Phillona rummaged through the paper bag and removed a box from it.

"Here..." she placed a box on his lap, "open it..."

"What is it...?" Sifan said, undoing the taped corners of the box, "Don't tell me you bo-"

It was a dark blue leather jacket, with the outline of a phoenix neatly embroidered in silver. The material felt amazingly authentic as Sifan ran his hand down the back of the jacket. He turned it over and the first thing he noticed was that the buttons too, had the same design of the phoenix carved on them. A small price tag was hanging from the collar but Phillona snatched it away the moment he tried to read it.

"Happy birthday, Seef..." Phillona said smiling at him, "I hope you like it. It was all I could manage in such a.. uh... short notice..."

"This is gold saucer, right..." Sifan muttered, "Isn't it supposed to be the most expensive place around these parts...?"

"Uh yeah..." Phillona said, "But... uh... that jacket was really nice..."

"Take it back..." he put the jacket back into its box, "I can't take this..."

"I got it for you... so shut up and take it..."

"..." he rubbed the back of his neck, "Thank you..."

"Uh..." Sifan dug into his pocket, "Let me at least pay you for the shirt..."

"It's okay..." she assured, "Keep it..."

"Please don't do stupid things like this in the future..." he mumbled putting on the new jacket, "Oh.. by the way... Avatar's facing off with Relafen first..."

"Relafen...?"

"Yeah..."

"Uh... I haven't really seen Relafen fight but is he good? I mean can he beat Avatar?"

"No... He'll be lucky if he can even touch him..."

"But you've told me before that Relafen has Ifrit with him...right?"

"Yeah but Relafen keeps popping out Ifrit in every fight he enters..." Sifan pointed out, "Avatar's not stupid... he'll be expecting it..."

"Oh C'mon..." Phillona smiled, "Avatar can't take on Ifrit..."

"..."

"... right?"

"Don't know..." Sifan sighed, "He's getting stronger every minute... he's got that Fenis guardian training him... and besides, back in Balamb, we were taught about each guardian force's weakness... how else do you think I pulled off that stunt a while ago? There are ways to irritate Bahamut... and that's his weakness.. he gets irritated and angry way too fast... he's strong but if you get on his nerve it's only a matter of time before he loses his composure... that's what happened back there..."

"You're cute..." Phillona smiled, "But, uh... what's Ifrit's weakness? Besides ice magic..."

"He's got too many..." Sifan explained as he and Phillona walked out of the locker room to have lunch in the crowded Golden Saucer Restaurant, "Avatar will probably exploit all of them..."

"So It's going to be Avatar for sure...?"

"Probably..." Sifan replied, "Avatar won't lose... not to Relafen... besides he'll be looking forward to facing me..."

"Why...?" Phillona said as she placed her order, "What does he want?

"He'll probably want to know how I've taken all this madness..." the young Leonhart replied, "He'll make out by the way I fight him.. He always has and always will..."

"He can read my mind, Phillona..." he continued, "Like nobody ever has..."

A numb silence came between the two as they sat on the table at the corner of the restaurant.

Phillona remained silent despite her normal self. She had no words to tell him. What could she say? 'I am sorry Seef, I am sure he meant a lot to you'? She knew he would just pass that for some sympathetic bullshit. If she touched his hand, she knew he'd shy away, like he always did.

Then again, she could always tell him what she wanted to. And that was exactly what she did.

"Let me..." she said slowly looking up at him, "Let me take Avatar's place, Seef..."

He looked at her quietly, surprised at what she had just said.

"I know... it's stupid..." she whispered, "I know you were closer than brothers, I know you've spent years growing up together... and I know I am an idiot to think I can just walk in one fine day and take his place in your life and in your heart... I know I can never measure up to what he was to you but... give me a chance... I-"

"No..." he said bluntly, "You'll never be more than someone helping me out in this new world... that is all..."

He got to his feet and walked out the door.. He walked away to the far end of the hallway till he found a balcony overlooking the desert. He quietly settled himself on the balcony, hoping he could find some solitude. This time, however, Phillona wasn't going to let him get away with what he had said.

"Don't lie to me!" She said, walking up to where he stood, "Don't tell me I am just somebody in this new 'world' of yours..."

"Hah..." he scoffed, "And why do you think I am lying? Is this some stupid intuition you're getting about 'Seef'?"

"I see the way you look at me, Seef..." she replied, "I see the need... I seed the void he's left behind.. I see the pain... You're just one big fucking mess and you can't even come to terms with it... so you just walk away when you get a chance to fix it... I was hurt every time I tried to get close to you... for a while, I thought you didn't want me... but you know what... I realized something... you push me away only because you're afraid... you're afraid I'll leave you too... you're scared I'll hurt you too..."

_I don't need this..._

"Stop it..._"_

"Why should I?" Phillona said bluntly, "If you can't figure yourself out, why don't you allow me to? You never saw any of it coming, did you? Till one fine day, the only guy you've trusted over the last decade decided to fuck you over... "

"Shut up...I don't wanna fucking talk about it!_"_

"See... look at yourself, you can't even handle it..." she continued, "After Avatar left you to die that night, you died on the inside even if you made it out alive the next day... it was that simple... From that day on, you woke up every morning, feeling like you can't even get out of bed. You're sick of it, aren't you? Feeling like a reject that never meant anything to anyone... not even to Avatar Fenis... the person with who you shared your entire childhood..."

"..."

"Oh yeah and then, I came along... didn't I? You knew it, Seef, the way I looked at you... the way I smiled at you... the way I took care of you... you knew I loved you..."

She finally broke into tears.

"Hell, you didn't want it..." She continued wiping the tears from her eyes, "But you knew you were in need of it... I made you smile in the middle of all those conflicting emotions you were feeling because of Avatar... I had become so much of a comfort that the other night, you could sleep well only after I had sat down and talked to you... I checked on you later but you were sleeping too peacefully in case you didn't know... what's the matter Sifan? You thought I am gonna just sit back and let you hurt me and say things like 'You're nothing more than a person who helps me out'?"

"I am sick of it..." she said, "I am sick of being in love with you while you walk around saying things like that and act like I mean nothing to you..."

"..."

"Sooner or later I had to get it out..." she said locking his eyes in her gaze, "This has gone far enough, Seef. It's time you got past this. Avatar's becoming strong. Relafen's a commander. You're getting nowhere sitting around still wondering why Avatar did what he did. Seef, that's why I am asking you... please.. let me love you... let me take away all the pain... let me be the one to hold you at the end of every day in this world... let go of everything about Avatar that you've believed... he's gone now... I'll make you my world… I'll make you my life… my e-everything… I'll spend every minute trying to make you happy… I'll never let you hurt a single minute… I am asking you, Seef… I am asking you with all my heart… be mine... let me fill that void... You know I can... I know you want me Sifan Leonhart, hell, you need me...otherwise, you wouldn't have tears welling up in your eyes..."

Sifan looked away from her into the desert that stretched in front of him, doing his best to hold back tears that were threatening to ebb out.

"I...I need time..." was all he could manage to say.

"Okay..." She whispered, looking at the beautiful sands sparkle under the sunlight in front of them.

She intertwined her fingers around his and for the first time in his life, Sifan Leonhart couldn't bring himself to pull away...

* * *

_**A/N:** Yes... Mushy/Sugary/Syrupy ...I know... If you were looking for action, please forgive me... :-) Please review..._


	11. CHAPTER 10

**Chapter 10**

The evening sun slowly sank across the desert sands as Sifan Leonhart watched from the balcony, alone. For once, his mind wasn't tossing and turning as he stared at the sands that looked like an ocean of gold under the evening sky. The bright decorative lights of the golden saucer came to life and at once, the sky was a playground of colorful rays of red, blue and yellow. Yet, the desert sands looked more beautiful as the sky glowed in it's natural shade of orange despite the artificial luminosity that was thrown in by the lights.

Phillona Strife walked into the balcony and stood beside the SeeD. A calm silence hung between them for a brief moment before the brown-haired girl began to speak.

"Sorry I took so long..." she said, handing a wrapped sandwich to him, "I ran into a few friends of mine from Cosmo Canyon..."

"It's okay..." he replied calmly, "I wasn't in a hurry..."

"They want me to spend the rest of the evening with them... and the weekend... at Cosmo Canyon..."

"Are you going...?"

"It's been years since the last time I visited Cosmo Canyon.. I do have friends there... I haven't had the chance to see or meet anyone since Buganhagen's death..."

"So you're going..."

"I don't have a choice..." Phillona replied, "I can't say 'No'... besides, I do want to go...but-"

"You should go..." Sifan said, taking a bite of the sandwich, "I'll be okay..."

"I don't feel good about leaving when you have a fight with Avatar tonight..."

"I'll be fine..."

"I don't know, Seef..."

"Phillona..." he turned to her, "I'll be alright... I promise..."

"Seef... come with me..." she insisted, "Let's go to cosmo canyon... forget this whole thing..."

"No..." he shook his head, "I can't do that... I need to face Avatar...I can't run from my fears..."

"Okay, let me atleast call up Trex and Marlene... If I do it now, they should be here by the time you and Avatar start..."

"You don't have to-" the young Leonhart started but stopped when he realized he might need them if Avatar gets the better of him, "Fine... if it makes you feel better..."

"I'll do that..." She stepped away from him, "I should be back in a couple of days..."

"..."

"...And I am sorry if I was a little harsh a while ago..." she said, recalling the dramatic outburst, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay..." he replied awkwardly.

_Someone had to knock some sense into me... sooner or later... whether I liked it or not..._

"Take care..." she flicked a strand of hair away from his eyes, "I'll see you soon... best of luck with Avatar..."

He nodded in acknowledgment and soon, she walked away from him, leaving him with a gentle smile. As she stepped into an elevator, she wondered if she had done the right thing by telling Sifan everything but somehow, she felt he had taken it well. A small hope sprung up within her, telling her it won't be long before she became an integral part of him.

'Sometimes, my dear.. ' Buganhagen had once told her. 'That feeling of hope at the bottom of your heart isn't false...'

There were some things she knew she would get no matter what and one of them was Sifan Leonhart.

* * *

Lethan Jabez nervously punched the buttons of the cell phone that Lorenz had given him. As soon as the phone at the other end became active, he let out all his frustrations.

"Hey! I don't know what the hell you gave me... but whatever it is... it isn't working!" Lethan hissed, after locking himself up securely in his room, "It's been 2 whole days and he's not even flinching.."

"It's one in the morning, you stupid Kid..." the sleepy voice at the other end murmured, "Can't ya choose yer timings properly?"

"I can't talk any other time, Lorenz..." Lethan replied, "Tell me what to do now...hurry up.."

"Okay okay... hold yer horses..."

"..."

"Did ya do what I told you to exactly the way I asked ya to...?"

"Yeah... to the last detail.."

"And you're saying it's non-effective..."

"Yeah. Are you deaf? I said it ain't doin' nothin to him..."

"Alright... Listen... meet me back at the Shin-Ra camp tomorrow...I'll give you a whole bunch of those drugs... keep increasing the dosage... by one tablet till you can see visible effects in his behavior the next day..."

"Hey.. I can't keep giving him stuff to drink everyday... He'll get suspicious..."

"Then do it once a week or something you dumbass... use someone else to do the job... Can't ya think up anything yourself?"

"Yeah okay fine... but whatever shit you're planning... you better gimme my money, okay? I couldn't give a shit about the leadership of this village now but I need the money, Lorenz... you better not screw around with that..."

"Yeah Yeah... Go to sleep kid, don't disturb me till you have real news to report..." the voice at the other end muttered before the line went dead.

* * *

Relafen Almasy wiped the droplets of sweat that seemed to be forming on his brow as the spectators around him cheered wildly. He nervously ignored all the boo-ing thrown in his direction as he double checked his Ifrit materia. The Shin-Ra commander couldn't help but feel like an underdog from the way the crowd erupted when Avatar walked into the Bahamut-damaged ring.

Soon, the ninja stood before him, calmly tightening the band that held his hair in a pony tail. Another thing that disturbed Relafen was the fact that Avatar had dual katanas. Added to the sheath that the young Fenis usually had across his waist at the back, was another darker-shaded blade-holder placed behind his shoulder.

The moment Sifan saw it, he remembered clearly that it was the same one Avatar had won at a contest in battle square a few weeks ago. The 'Dark Katana' , he remembered him saying, was what Avatar had been searching unsuccessfully in all of Esthar's weapons shops. That night in the golden saucer, the moment they had announced it as a prize, Avatar had left to take part in the contest, leaving a rather nervous Sifan for the dance with Phillona.

_I remember him saying it was stuck in its sheath... I think he got it out somehow..._

Flashes of the night and the dance darted across his mind as he heaved another sigh and stared at the ring where Avatar Fenis and Relafen Almasy were about to start their fight.

It didn't take long before the noisy crowd's attention was caught by shrill ring of the bell. They sat at the edge of their seats, feasting their eyes on what might be another bloody slug fest as the young Leonhart watched on in silence.

Avatar Fenis didn't move. He stood still, folding his arms, waiting for the SeeD commander to make the first move.

Relafen's anxiety only worsened and he rushed at his opponent, hoping he could get in the first attack. He unsheathed his gunblade during his run and tried to slice at his opponent the minute he got near him. Avatar swayed to the left and jumped a few steps backward, avoiding the attack easily.

Relafen stepped back, "So Fenis, here we are..."

Avatar didn't reply. He waited, calm as ever.

"What are ya waiting for?" Relafen bawled, irritated at his opponent's hesitation to attack.

"Ifrit..." Avatar replied in a stony voice.

"Don't be stupid Fenis!" Relafen growled, "I am strong enough to do this without Ifrit..."

"Very well.." Avatar sighed and darted towards Relafen. Before the flame-haired commander could lift his sword for a block, the ninja had already launched himself in the air. Relafen quickly swayed away from the path of his adversary, hoping to counter attack. Avatar landed right in front of the young commander just as he wanted. The young Almasy swung his gunblade, ready to hear the sound of his weapon making contact. But the clashing of metal was the only sound he heard as Avatar's metal wrist guard blocked it in an instant. And then, a second too late, Relafen Almasy realized he was too close to the ninja for his own good.

Avatar's right fist smashed into Relafen's jaw after which the ninja spun around and followed it with his left elbow. Another fiendish right landed on Relafen's nose, only to be accompanied by a left knee into his stomach. The blow made the Shin-Ra commander cringe forward only to be dealt a cruel uppercut. Relafen Almasy hit the ground with a thud with a bloody nose. Avatar walked over to him, stretching his hands in boredom.

The commander didn't think twice. He hastily grabbed his gunblade with his shaky hands and summoned the fire beast.

* * *

"Well, what happened now, Aura?" spoke the voice of an old man, "What is it this time?"

"Sorry Goshen... He got suspicious..."

"Did he now...?" another voice interrupted, "Aren't you missing something, sweetheart?"

"Shut up Jack..." Aura quipped, "Well.. Actually I gave it away... I couldn't resist the urge to mention the Avatar thing to Sifan..."

"And by doing so..." Jack Shinobis continued, "She screwed it up... for the second time..."

"Never mind..." Goshen sighed, "I was kind of wishing he would turn up here the moment we sent that letter to him some time back asking him to get here..."

"Er..." Aura smiled, "I added something that I thought would get him here quicker..."

"Yeah..." Jack sighed, "From 'Squall Leonhart'. That was stupid Aura. Very stupid."

"I think that is what's gonna get him here ultimately..." Aura replied at once.

"I hope so, Aura..." Goshen heaved a sigh, "We don't have much time..."

"You should've let me handle it Goshen." Jack pointed out, "I could've knocked him out and let him snooze all the way here..."

"Hey..." Aura protested, "It's not my fault. Nobody told me he had Bahamut. Or else, that victory could've been mine. And I would've had him here. Um... atleast in a recoverable condition or something..."

"Give it a rest..." Jack Shinobis muttered, "You were summoning meteors on him. You could've killed him."

"Alright children..." Goshen interrupted, "Stop your fighting. Aura, please stay back and help me tidy up this place."

Jack smiled, "So who's fetching Sifan?"

"You..." Goshen replied.

"Don't hurt him..." Aura added, "He's a nice guy..."

"Hey... I can't promise anything..." Jack muttered as his voice faded away with footsteps, "I'll get him here in one piece... that is if Avatar leaves him like that..."

After Jack Shinobis had left, Aura turned to Goshen, "You know... It's strange... Avatar and Jack are so much alike..."

"You don't know what Avatar's like..." Goshen reminded her, "All you've seen of him is what Goddess Aeris showed you in the hall of the ancients..."

"Yeah.. but I've seen most of him ever since he got here... before he pulled that stunt, of course..."

"..."

"Why can't Aeris show us anything anymore Goshen?"

"It's her wish Aura. You can't question that..." the old man replied, "Avatar Fenis and Sifan Leonhart's lives are not a show for all of us to see... we were shown what we needed to be shown... their past in Balamb, the kind of relationship the two of them shared, how they were brought here and how their friendship was ultimately broken by fate... and everything revealed... Aeris even showed you the whole Ultimecia incident... She showed you everything so you'd believe the fact that fate had a hand in everything that happened. You were shown so much, so that you'd believe that you and Jack too, are a part of a destiny like that. So you'd realize that you ARE the children of destiny... A destiny which will be upon us soon... "

"..."

"Even after that..." Goshen continued, "You, and especially Jack... refused to believe any of it.. Only after goddess Aeris showed you your childhoods did you believe that Aeris knew the two of you and what you've been through... Only after that, were the two of you ready to listen to what I had to say... till then, Jack was ready to walk out... I have to say that you were a bit more reasonable... "

"Thanks..." Aura smiled, "Tell that to him..."

"If Aeris hadn't showed you so much... about Ultimecia, Squall and time compression or Cloud, Sephiroth and the planet, or the way Sifan and Avatar were brought here, tell me Aura... would you and Jack have even believed in a thing called 'fate'? If Aeris hadn't given you visible proof about the fact that she knew your past and your childhoods, would you have listened to her or me in the first place? You would've probably passed everything for some nonsense..."

"..."

"I remember how hard it was to get you and Jack to listen to Aeris in the first place... You were a wild-child knowing nothing more but the interiors of Kalm... Jack was a headstrong young man wandering without a cause, working as a mercenary for hire... Taking both of you to the hall of ancients wasn't easy... however, you did come along once I asked you to, but Jack was just not interested... I had to pay the lad money to take him there..."

Aura snickered, "Yeah... but he couldn't even speak when Aeris started to show us everything... especially our childhoods..."

"Look at it this way..." Goshen suggested, "Sometimes... seeing is believing... but once you have that belief... it's not necessary you need to continue to see to believe... and that my dear, is why Aeris has stopped showing us... Jack, myself and you.. we know.. we believe the cause of Aeris... we just needed to see that big crazy playground of destiny to know that we're standing on it..."

Aura was satisfied, "You're a great teacher, Goshen. Sifan Leonhart's gonna be glad to meet you..."

"I hope so, Aura ..." Goshen sighed, "I hope so..."

"You know..."Aura yawned, "I've been asking you so many questions about Avatar that I think Jack is kind of upset."

"I did notice that..." Goshen smiled, "He seemed extremely critical of you today..."

"When Aeris was showing us all that stuff about Sifan and Avatar, I told Jack that I thought Avatar was cute... and nice..." Aura snickered, "Jack didn't seem to like that..."

"Ah... so you ARE the devil this time..." the old man said, remembering the countless fights his students kept having ever since they had gotten together.

"That's one thing I can't teach about Aura..." Goshen admitted, "Love is beyond the scope of destiny itself..."

"Hey... " Aura remembered something, "We need to get Phillona, Trex and Marlene here too..."

"They'll get here..." Goshen assured, wrapping a cloak over himself, "One way or another..."

"Okay..." Aura said, noticing that Goshen was getting ready to leave, "You're going somewhere?"

"Yes ..." Goshen replied, "Do take care of my humble abode while I am away..."

"Where are you going...?"

"Cosmo Canyon, my girl..." he replied as he walked to the exit, "I think it's time I told Phillona Strife that old fool Buganhagen had another old fool like me for a brother..."

* * *

A/N: Please Review... I'll have another chapter posted in a few days... 


	12. CHAPTER 11

**Chapter 11**

Ifrit let out a menacing holler and fixed Avatar Fenis with a stony glare. The ninja smiled as he returned his sword to his sheath after which he dashed towards the beast in tremendous speed. Ifrit took a wild swipe at his adversary but Avatar ducked and launched himself into the air. He used Ifrit's knee as a foothold to double his jump. He shot out his hand and by using Ifrit's neck as a pivot, he swung around in an arc and sat on Ifrit's shoulders, his legs hanging down either side of the guardian force's neck. The beast screamed in anger and fastened a quick but tight grip around Avatar's ankle. The ninja was violently flung to the ground but he managed to land on his feet, the momentum of the throw making him skid backwards. In a second, Avatar darted towards the monster again. A fire spell headed straight for him but he swayed to the left to avoid it. Running and ducking a chain of high velocity fire spells was something the SeeD pulled off easily and soon, he found himself near the beast again. This time however, he dove into the space between Ifrit's legs and came up behind him. Ifrit turned around only to have Avatar's katana plunged into his stomach. The fire monster tried an angry swipe but Avatar stepped out of its way before rushing in to bury the other sword right next to its twin. In another swift motion, he mercilessly pulled both his weapons out and spun kick his opponent hard on the wounded spot. Ifrit roared in pain and backed away, blood oozing from his stomach.

The monster panted for a while before shaking the ground with another loud roar and then, he ascended into the air, forming a magic ball of fire with his hands. The huge orb of fire grew larger, the higher he rose into the air. Soon, Ifrit sent the flaming sphere straight at the young Fenis.

Avatar quickly cast a shell spell, hoping to reduce the magnitude of the damage. The shell took the full brunt of the fireball but the impact of the collision pushed the SeeD a few feet backward but he managed to stay on his feet. Ifrit repeatedly flung smaller fireballs at the ninja from the air but the young Fenis dashed and ducked, moving in a zig-zag manner, avoiding the pellets of fire elegantly. As soon as he was close to his giant adversary, he flung his sword at the beast, which went spinning straight at Ifrit's neck. The beast shot out a hand and caught the sword only to be struck by the other sword in the following second, right in the middle of his heart. The aeon fell to the ground in front of Avatar and soon, the ninja retrieved his weapons and jumped away from the guardian force. Avatar used Ifrit's recovery time to cast a freeze spell on his swords, covering the blades with a thick coating of ice. He slowly circled Ifrit as the beast stood to his feet clenching its bleeding chest.

Using Ifrit's knee as a pedestal again, the ninja was on Ifrit's shoulders once more but this time, when the beast tried to straighten his torso, the bleeding stomach muscles suffered a violent stretch leaving the monster in too much pain to move. Avatar buried the ice sword into the beast's left shoulder, jumped to the ground and planted the other frozen katana into the already wounded heart. He stepped back calmly and watched as Ifrit fell to his knees and slowly turned a shiny silver and returned to his world in defeat, leaving Avatar's katanas to clatter to the ground. The young Fenis picked up his weapons and sheathed them as Relafen Almasy reappeared slowly in front of him, his gunblade lazily hanging from his hand.

"Okay Okay... You win Fenis..." Relafen blurted out in shock, signaling his surrender to the ring announcer, "I wasn't...er...planning on winning this thing anyway..."

The only reply the commander received was a nonchalant stare.

As Avatar slowly walked away to the exit, for a brief moment, his eyes strayed on to the spectator stand and met Sifan Leonhart's. A dry smile formed at the corner of the ninja's lips as he walked out of the arena, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

* * *

"So..." little Fiona looked at Lethan Jabez, "Yoo want me ta give this glass of milk to unca Sephiroth?"

"Yes..." Lethan replied, placing his hands on the child's shoulders, "Don't spill anything and tell uncle Sephiroth the cook just added a little bit of er... extra sugar... so it... might... er... never mind... just give it to uncle Sephy okay?"

"Ookie..." the girl replied cheerfully and made her way to Sephiroth's room carefully carrying the glass of milk as Lethan watched from the window.

"Today... will be the day..." he whispered to himself, "Today will be the end of Sephiroth... once and for all..."

Professor Lorenz had ordered him to increase the dosage by a single tablet but Lethan had grown too sick of waiting. He tossed the small, empty drug container into the trash can and watched as the the silver-haired man smiled and took the glass from the girl. Lethan could hardly contain his glee.

_Surely, _he thought to himself, _A half a dozen tablets ought to do the job..._

_

* * *

_

"Hey, check this out..." Trex remarked, picking up a burnt SeeD coat from the corner of the locker room, "Isn't this..?"

"Sifan's..." Marlene confirmed, walking to Trex, "Oh my..."

"I'd say this hole wasn't really made by any normal spell..." Trex observed, "Look at the damaged threads, they are blackened at the ends.. still, they don't smell burnt... so what's a spell that can burn but is not exactly fire...?"

"Flare..." Marlene replied, "Sifan did fight Bahamut...So Phillona was not crazy after all..."

"Could be..." Trex muttered tossing the coat back into the corner and stretching his hands, "Then again, anybody could've cast a flare spell... but not so intense as to burn hole in leather... but of course, if a really powerful mage or-"

"Too many detective novels, Trex..." the black-haired girl sighed, "Why can't you just believe what Phillona said?"

"Hey... I have never heard of guardian forces showing up without being called and then turning on their own summoners..." Trex argued, "Sounds cuckoo to me... Phillona was probably saying that to get me here so I could drool over that 'Ragnarok' materia that Sifan supposedly collected..."

"Yeah... maybe, but the point is, it worked..." Marlene replied gazing out of the window, "Hey, check out these lights..."

"Bah... I hate it when people make such a big deal out of these lights..." Trex complained walking up to the window, "I mean they're just lights for Go- Whoa, hey... these are pretty neat.."

Soon both Marlene Wallace and Trex Denver were staring at the golden saucer lights out of the window, lost in the glowing hue of colors outside. They were so wrapped up in its splendor that they failed to notice Sifan Leonhart walk into the locker room. Soon he stood behind them but the only thing Trex and Marlene were interested was the giant chocobo-shaped blip slowly floating into the swaying beams of light outside.

"You know..." Marlene said, unaware of Sifan's presence, "I miss Dad... When I was little, he always used to carry me around on his shoulders... He said he'd take me to the wonder square ride the day before it happened..."

"...Hey..." Trex placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "I am sure they're happy in the lifestream world... think about it... If they were here... they woulda still had to fight Shin-Ra all over again... after they worked so hard in stopping METEOR in the first place... I think they deserve to rest..."

"Yeah... Maybe you're right... " Marlene sighed, "But Phillona never even got to see or talk to her parents... atleast I was a child... atleast I got to know how much they cared... Phillona..."

"Hey..." Trex cut in again, "If she hears you're talking about her.. pitying her and stuff... she's gonna be mad... you know that..."

"She's okay these days though..." Marlene pointed out, "Ever since she's been busy running around with Sifan and stuff..."

_Hey... Leave me outta this..._

"Oh yeah that..." Trex snickered, "She's liked him from the day they met..."

_It had to be me..._

"If you ask me..." Marlene quipped, "I think she should've gone for Avatar... he's way too cute..."

_But it had to be me..._

"Don't know..." the gunner replied, "but I do recall her saying Sifan is as charming as an old barrel of olives..."

_Hey..._

"Nah... " Marlene insisted, "Olives can be more appealing than Mr. Leonhart anyday..."

_How nice..._

"But you know..." Trex joked, "He does make a neat first-time target for me sniping practice..."

"What?" Sifan Leonhart interrupted abruptly, startling both Trex and Marlene, "You mean I was the first thing you've ever sniped at?"

"Sifan!" Trex smiled sheepishly, "Nice to meet you too..."

"Seefoo poo!" Marlene grinned, "What took you?"

"Yeah..." Trex added, "Where were you, er... Mr. Um...Seefoo poo?"

_I am regretting agreeing with Phillona already..._

"Relafen-Avatar fight..." Sifan said, "It wasn't long but the crowd was huge.. took some time to push through all of them..."

Marlene insisted that she was hungry and hurried away to have something to fill her rumbling stomach. Trex decided to stay with Sifan since he wasn't as hungry. Mainly because, he had emptied a whole carton of fresh milk on the way to the golden saucer while Marlene was asleep. He dragged Sifan to the balcony, insisting that he wanted to see the lights that he had earlier considered not to be that much of a big deal. Soon as they reached the balcony, Trex was ooh-ing and aah-ing while Sifan stood against the railing lost in thought and once, the cheerful young gunslinger decided to pry on his thoughts.

"So..." Trex mumbled chewing some gum, "Whatcha thinkin' about...?"

"Nothing..."

"Aw shuddup man..." Trex replied, "C'mon tell me... Ya thinkin' about the Avatar fight right?"

"No..." Sifan said slowly, "Not that..."

"Aw C'mon.. Don't kid me. What else are you gonna think about? Phillona?" Trex said sarcastically.

"No..." he lied.

* * *

Lethan Jabez eagerly punched the buttons on the cell phone and called to report as usual, "Lorenz... Are six tablets heavy enough...?"

"Yer kiddin, right kid?" the voice at the other line replied at once, "Tell me yer pullin my leg..."

"No, I-"

"You fucking nuts, kid?" the voice at the other end exploded, "Didn't I tell you to increase the dosage by one till you see any changes in behavior?"

"Yeah but-"

"Dammit! Listen kid!" Lorenz bawled, "You have no fucking idea what you've done! So put the damn phone down and pray that the drug doesn't work till I get there!"

Lorenz flapped his cellphone shut and turned on his laptop. He accessed Shin-Ra's medical database and quickly double checked the contents of the drug that Lethan had delivered an overdose of.

TerraAzidine

Contents:

PhenoTryAphredine 92.5

Azithromycin Dinitrate- 7.5

Artifical colouring: Titanium di-oxide.

WARNING:SCHEDULE ALPHA DRUG. USE UNDER STRICT MEDICAL SUPERVISION. IMPROPER USE MIGHT RESULT IN HEART FAILURE, SWELLING AND OTHER ABNOEMALITIES. For more details, read section 5.4.4.1.

"_Six isn't 'Improper use'..." Lorenz_ cried to himself, as he scrolled to section 5.4.4.1, "_Six is a frickin' overdose!"_

He read through the hundreds of abnormalities and consequences that may result in the over use of the drug but the only one Lorenz was worried about was not listed. He heaved a sigh of relief but almost at once, he stopped short. At the end of the long list of sentences were the words he had dreaded the most.

HIGH MAGNITUDE OVERDOSAGE CAN CAUSE HALLUCINATION/PARANOIA/MEMORY DISFUNCTION/MEMORY ABNORMALITES or ANTI/UN-SUPRESSING ACTIVITIES

The professor jumped to his feet, picked up the intercom phone and yelled as loud as he could, "We're leaving to Gondola village in another 12 hours... Get me a damn airship ready!"

He slammed the phone down harder than ever as beads of sweat formed on the professor's forehead. His mouth twisted in disbelief over what Lethan had done. The chances of it happening were now more than ever. If the data in the medical database was accurate, in another 24 to 48 hours, Sephiroth's memory could return to him... Once and for all...

* * *

Sifan Leonhart walked to the locker room alone. Despite repeated attempts by Marlene and Trex at convincing the SeeD, Sifan had refused to let them accompany him to the locker room. He had told them he needed time alone to prepare. Fortunately for him, they had decided to respect his decision. He opened the locker room to see a rather unexpected person waiting for him.

"I thought you were leaving to Cosmo Canyon..." Sifan looked at Phillona Strife, "The airship's going to leave in a few minutes..."

"Nope..." She sighed as she walked to him, "I c-changed my mind... I thought I'll go after your fight..."

"It's not going to be pretty..." he replied, readying his gunblade, "If you run, you can still catch that airship to Cosmo can-"

"No..." Phillona repeated, "I'll take another one later... even if it does get late..."

"..."

Phillona walked up to him and held his fingers in her palm, "Promise me..."

"What...?" he replied, looking into her eyes.

"Promise me, y-you'll surrender if things get too-"

"bloody...?" he suggested, "unbearable? If it hurts too much? If I suffer lethal wounds?"

"..."

"I don't think so..." Sifan replied, "He can kill me if he has to... I won't do that..."

"Dammit, I want you back in one piece!" Phillona yelled, "It's bad enough you're doing this, now you can't even promise me you'll do whatever it takes to stay unhurt..."

"He wants to hurt me Phillona..." Sifan sighed, "This isn't about glory or honor... This isn't about winning this stupid tournament... For him, this is about vengeance... he wants me to hurt... he wants me to fall to my knees and bleed... the same way his mother suffered... That is all this is, Phillona... good, old-fashioned revenge..."

"But you're not ready, Seef..." she insisted, "You know that..."

Sifan sighed, "I know..."

"Fight him when you're ready..." Phillona whispered, "Walk away now..."

"...No." Sifan pulled his hands out of Phillona's grasp, "I want to see how weak I am first..."

"..."

"I want to see if I can atleast match up to him blow to blow... or atleast survive him..." the SeeD continued, "Even if he beats me, even if he hurts me... and hell, even if he kills me..."

"Yer pathetic, kid..." said a familiar voice from the corner, "I leave you for a few days and look how you're talking... 'I want to see how weak I am first...or atleast survive him.' For Hyne's sake, kid... Avatar Fenis is not a damn God..."

Setzin slowly walked upto Sifan, hopping in his crutches as he did so. His body was covered with bandages and his face was unshaven and rugged. He wore a small smile while smoking a brown cigar in his lips. He set his crutches down on the bench with Phillona's help as he laughed mockingly at the young Leonhart, "Yer getting all pussy on me kid..."

"Its bad enough I have one person here to worry about, now you too?" Phillona sighed, "You should be at home, resting..."

"I am sick o' sitting there like a barrel..." Setzin replied, "Don't worry... I am feelin' way better today... besides, wanted to see Sifan here have a go at Avatar..."

"Okay listen..." Sifan cleared his throat, "Phillona, get Setzin to the spectator stand and help him get a seat near Marlene and Trex... and... uh... meet me near the drawbridge at the ring entrance in ten minutes... fast..."

Despite Setzin insisting on walking by himself, Phillona helped him out of the locker room as Sifan equipped all the materia he had into his gunblade. He was about to return it to its sheath before he paused.

_This is going to be me and him...alone..._

He removed the Bahamut materia and slipped it into the Blue Phoenix coat that Phillona had bought for him recently. He removed his coat and folded them around his arm and attached the gunblade holder to his belt as he walked out of the locker room towards the ring. The corridor leading up to the entrance was deserted completely as Sifan walked through it nervously. Once he reached the closed drawbridge, he leaned against the wall and anxiously clenched his teeth, a strange of feeling of discomfort settling in his stomach. He knew it was only a matter of few minutes before the drawbridge opened up and the path would lead straight up to Avatar Fenis.

"Phew..." Phillona heaved as she turned around the corner and walked towards the SeeD, "Got here as fast as I could..."

"Here... take this..." Sifan gave Phillona the coat, "I don't want it to get ruined..."

Phillona took the coat from him and comfortably helped herself into it. However, the coat was too big for her and she looked like a little child wearing her father's coat.

Sifan managed a wry smile, "You're swimming in it..."

"I know... " she replied, standing in front of him, "Wipe that grin off your face..."

"You'll look like you escaped from a mental asylum if you walk around in that..."

"Very funny Seef..." She slapped him with the loose end of the right sleeve, "Just like always..."

He smiled at her again. The fact that he was so comfortable when she was around stared him in the face and for once, he accepted it. The difference she made didn't scare him anymore. It was something he was growing accustomed to, and he consciously allowed himself to grow into it.

"What are you thinking...?" she touched the side of his face with the loose sleeve end again, "Me?"

"Yeah..." he replied, "You in a mental asylum..."

"That's you at your romantic best, you know that...?" She smiled, "I'll rather take the cheesiest pick-up line in the world instead of that one, you know..."

"I don't know any..."

"I am sure you do..." Phillona insisted, "Hit me with one of Balamb's best..."

"Er... okay, you asked for it...How would you, uh.. like your eggs...?" Sifan sighed, "Fried, or um...scrambled or... er... uh...fertilized...?"

Phillona burst into laughter, "That was the corniest line I've heard in all my life... and trust me, I get a lot of them... "

"Whatever..." came the quick reply.

"...and the delivery was perfect!" Phillona continued to giggle, "You used 'Um', 'Uh' and 'er' so much that they swept me off my feet at once!"

Phillona continued to laugh as Sifan wondered whatever made him say it. Eventually, the brown-haired girl stopped laughing but she still wore a gentle smile as she calmly slipped her arms around the SeeD's neck.

"Now..." she fixed him in her gaze, "Tell me something nice..."

"Really, Phillona..." Sifan murmured, "You really pick the best time for all this..."

"Shut up and hug me back..."

"It's like those scenes in the movies before the climax or something..."

"Talking your way out of intimacy won't work..." she pointed out, "Even if you are talkative and funny today..."

"..."

"Please?" She said softly, "Just one small, little hug for your girl..."

Sifan sighed as he slipped his hands around Phillona who still had her arms tightly secured around his neck. A minute passed by slowly without either of them saying a word. There was no need for them. Somethings were understood without them. He knew it and he understood it perfectly... He can fight the largest dragon on the planet or the mightiest wizard of them all. She didn't give a damn. All she cared about was having him and holding him like she did then. Nothing else mattered...

The drawbridge opened out to the maddening roar of the crowd. Whistles and hoots rung out, amidst the loud ranting of the announcer over the speakers. Even the sound of trickling water under the drawbridge and the shouts of the popcorn seller fell on his ears. The announcer called out Sifan's name and when Phillona heard it, she slowly let go of Sifan and the moment she did, a cold feeling enveloped him. He swallowed hard as he turned his face to look into her eyes.

He wanted to stay with her. Somehow, for a brief moment, he didn't really care about Avatar Fenis or the rest of the world for that matter. He removed his hands from around her waist, ignoring the part of him that didn't want to let go of her.

"Go..." he said calmly, "I'll come back, I promise..."

She tilted her head and smiled. "I know you will..." She said before placing a quick kiss on his cheek. The rampant spectators and the loud announcer never fell on his ears as he watched her walk away and disappear around the corner.

With a heavy sigh, the SeeD turned around to face reality. The noisy crowd seemed to be craving for his blood even more than Avatar. With another heave, Sifan walked into the bright arena. The moment he walked out on the drawbridge, his eyes went straight to the middle of the ring. Avatar Fenis stood watching him, calm as ever. He continued to stare at him as he made his way to the ring, ignoring Marlene, Trex and Setzin who were worriedly looking on from the sidelines. Soon, the two of them stood in the middle of the wooden square, separated only by the ring of the bell.

Their eyes met for the first time in days. Avatar's stare was emotionless, vacant and void of any expression. Sifan's was one of hurt and anger coupled with bitterness and pain. The ninja smiled as if he was happy to read such negative aura from his one-time friend. The crowd continued to howl and holler. For them, Sifan Leonhart and Avatar Fenis were just two more competitors ready to fight for the tournament's prize and public entertainment but little did they know that it was about much much more...

Words couldn't adequately describe the bond that they shared.. Neither of them had known anything that was more important to them than each other... Neither of them had faced anything separately over the last decade... They were sons of Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly...

_You didn't know a father or mother besides Mom and Dad ... or a brother besides me... Every time a question about your past came up, you threw it away... because you had us... you knew no past you could've had would've been better than your present... And to me, You were more than a friend... You were like a damn brother... Everything we did, we did it together... Hell, you even stood up for me against mom and dad when they corrected me... I did the same damn thing... over and over again.. Even when I knew you were wrong... What about all those times Avatar? Every adventure you dragged me to...? All those times skipping garden and going fishing? All those times we decided to make Zell's life miserable by eating his hot dogs? All those times we sat up watching late night nonsense with the muted tv? All those nights we sneaked out with only Angelo to protect us? All those memories? What happened to them? Didn't they mean anything to you? Didn't I mean anything at all to YOU? What happened to your buddy Sifan? _

_Why...? Where did all that go when you drove your blade through me? Where did it all go when you left me bleeding on that snowy night? You left me to die, dammit? You tried to fucking kill me! What on earth did I ever do to you, you bastard? WHY? How could you...? How COULD YOU?_

The bell never sounded. Sifan pulled out his gunblade and swung it straight at Avatar Fenis...

* * *

**_A/N: _**Long chapter... Sorry for disappearing... Please review... 


	13. CHAPTER 12

A/N: Please re-read as many chapters as you can before reading this... :) Just a request... It has been ages after all...

**_Chapter 12_**

The tip of the gunblade left a red streak across the cheek of a startled Avatar Fenis as the ring announcer hurriedly rang the starting bell. Avatar felt the wound with his hand and watched the blood drip down the tip of his finger. A wry smile appeared across his face. He slowly reached for his katana and pulled it out as Sifan continued to watch, fixing his one time friend with a stony glare.

Avatar met his opponent's stare with another dry smile before rushing at him with sword in hand. He took a wild swing at the SeeD which was met with a sturdy block. Using the momentum of the recoil, he swung again from the opposite direction only to be met with a block again. Using the reverse momentum again for the third time, the young Fenis went for another deadly swipe. Only this time, with his right leg. A blindingly fast sweep kick caught the young Leonhart out of position awkwardly, sending him crashing to the ground. Before he could get back on his feet, the ninja made a speedy attempt to sink his sword down into his opponent. The SeeD hastily met it with his own weapon before jumping back to his feet, gripping his weapon sturdily in his hands. The pain in his ankle caused by Avatar's sweep kick didn't get any better as the two SeeDs circled each other, each awaiting the other to strike first.

Avatar, however, wasn't too eager to play any waiting games. He sheathed his katana and ran straight at the brown-haired boy. Sifan panicked and swung his sword at his rushing opponent the moment he was at arm's reach. Avatar ducked causing Sifan to miss badly. The SeeD tried to compensate it with a quick reverse swing but the ninja blocked it with his right arm guard as if he knew exactly what Sifan was going to do. Before the young Leonhart could act again, Avatar sank a hard stomp exactly at the back of Sifan's right knee joint, forcing the SeeD to fall on one knee. He mercilessly planted a strong chop with his right hand on Sifan's shoulder blade, making the brown-haired boy scream in pain. In a flash, out came Avatar's left katana from behind his waist and he swung a full 180, fast enough to behead the young Leonhart. Despite the flaring pain eating his shoulder, Sifan managed to roll forward, causing the katana to spare his head only by inches. The sound of the ninja's sword whistling across his ear still lingered in his head as he struggled back to his feet. Before he could even turn to face his opponent, Avatar was on him again like a bloodthirsty wolf. He nailed Sifan to the ground with a hefty shoulder spear but before he could do anything more, Sifan managed to sink his boot on the ninja's stomach. He threw him over his head with all his might but Avatar landed on his feet and spun around as Sifan stumbled to his feet. He panted heavily as the young Fenis tirelessly dashed towards him yet again. Sifan did the only thing his mind seemed to be directing him to do. He swung again, somehow managing to draw a bit of strength from his sore shoulder muscles. Avatar noticed the weakness of the swing and blocked the blade easily with his steel arm brace like before. Using the same arm, he caught hold of the young Leonhart's wrist, wrenched it wickedly, pulled the SeeD towards him and jabbed his heel violently into Sifan's ribs, causing the brown-haired boy to yell in anguish. In a flash, Avatar spun around, still holding Sifan's arm and threw him over his shoulder to the ground. The SeeD landed awkwardly on his back, a swift wave of pain running across his spine at once. The taste of blood entered Sifan's mouth as the ninja approached him to finish the battle.

The spectators knew as well as the fighters in the middle of the ring that the battle was over. The few minutes the fight lasted only underlined the fact that it was never really a contest to begin with. One was too weak and the other, too strong. One was looking for vengeance, fueled with hatred and the other, was simply looking towards enjoying the former's anger.

Sifan crawled away as Avatar walked towards him, katanas in hand. Sifan's fallen gunblade bore the refection of Avatar Fenis' grim face. Sifan reached for his sword but Avatar kicked it away. He looked down at the fallen SeeD and shook his head.

"Pathetic..."

"...Kill me..." Sifan spoke, his words blunt as ever, "What are you waiting for?"

"No..."

"What?"

"It was too easy..." Avatar shook his head, sheathing both his swords as he turned around, "Next time, give me a fight..."

"No!" Sifan crawled to his knees, blood trickling from the edge of his mouth, "End it, now!"

The ninja didn't reply as the crowd quietly exited the arena, disappointed that the battle didn't get a bloody ending. Avatar was already gone by the time Sifan managed to stagger to his feet.

The young Leonhart made his way out of the square-shaped wooden ring. The only remaining spectators sneered as Sifan crossed them.  
Some of them made it a point to laugh at him louder than usual as he made his way out of the arena. Loud jeers continued to rain around him as Sifan exited through the mouth of the open drawbridge.

* * *

By the time the SeeD had reached the locker room, he realized that Avatar had done him in faster than anyone could've imagined. The pain inflicted by his former friend didn't unsettle him as much as the humiliation of defeat.

_He made a damn joke out of me... _

_But why didn't he kill me? What the hell does he want? If it's revenge for his mother, I should've been lying dead back there with his sword through my heart... _

"I know what you're thinking..." General keiara's crisp voice came from behind as he neared the locker room door, "Why did my brother let you live...?"

Sifan turned around, his right hand reaching for his gunblade at once, "Keiara..."

"Don't make me laugh, boy..." the red-haired Shin-ra General smiled, "Do you really think you're in any condition to fight...?"

"What do you want...?"

"I'll make something very clear to you..." she continued, "Stay the hell away from Avatar. I don't want you anywhere near him, you hear? He has bigger things to do now than playing with you like he used to..."

"..."

"And before you torture yourself over why he didn't bother killing you..." Ultimecia's daughter pointed out, "Let me rid you of your misery. My brother thinks you're not ready yet... He won't kill you till he feels you've given him a fight..."

"..."

"Listen up, boy..." she threw her head back in an arrogant manner, "Right now, Avatar can take you out like he would a grass monster. He doesn't need to lift a finger to flatten the likes of you. The thing with him, though, is this. He'll like to fight it out just for the sake of it even if you're not ready. It gives him some twisted satisfaction fighting you. So even if he can beat you in a minute, he'll still fight you..."

Sifan's hand continued stay on the handle of his gunblade, "What's your point...?"

"I can't afford to have him waste his time bothering with you. So, stay the hell away. If you're not going to meet his skills sword to sword, blow to blow, do us all a favor and stay away. Like I said, he has bigger things to worry about..."

_Bigger things...?_

"If I hear that you're around, looking for a fight just to lose again..." Keiara warned pointing at Sifan threateningly with one of her jagged steel fingers, "I'll kill you in a heartbeat... I won't even bother saving the pleasure for Avatar. Do come around when you're strong enough to challenge the strength of the Fenis name and especially when you can give my brother his effort and time's worth... Till then, I don't want to hear, see or smell a whiff of you..."

Without a further word, the Shin-Ra general turned around and walked away from the SeeD and disappeared around the corner, her blood red cape trailing in her wake.

* * *

Lethan Jabez looked at the sun setting between the mountains that shadowed the Gondolian village. He still couldn't figure out why Lorenz had become so upset when he had heard about Sephiroth's overdosing. It wasn't his fault, or atleast that's what he told himself repeatedly. He had waited patiently day after day, week after week, but there wasn't even the slightest change visible in he man's behavior. Lethan was no doctor but he didn't have to be one to make out that Sephiroth's health was fine. He did what anyone who was tired of waiting would do, give it one last shot. Lethan did exactly that but with a twist. He had dumped every tablet into the drink. His hatred for Sephiroth blinded any sense of reasoning and there were no second thoughts before he carried out his desires.

In the days that followed, the news of Sephiroth's sudden illness spread around the village like fire. Little girls, boys and grown-ups alike entered and exited their village leader's residence, curious to know what could've possibly taken down their mighty savior.

Lethan looked at his watch. In a few hours, he knew it would be midnight and finally, Lethan knew for certain that it would be Sephiroth's final night at Gondola Village...

* * *

Sifan opened the locker room and just like he expected, he found Setzin, Trex, Marlene and Phillona waiting for him. Marlene was helping Setzin re-wrap his bandages while Trex stood in a corner, shining his shotgun's barrel. Phillona was leaning against a locker at the far end of the room, Sifan's new leather jacket tied around her waist. All of them turned their heads to the young Leonhart when he appeared and even their response was timed in unison. A perfectly large sigh came from all of them, followed by a tired shake of heads.

Sifan, however, didn't find it too amusing and headed straight for the locker he had rented which was right at the corner where Trex was standing.

"Well, now that you got creamed, let's go back home..." he grinned. He quickly noticed that Sifan was not interested in smiling or doing anything remotely related to smiling, "Well, Uh, I'll just wait at the restaurant near the airship dock then..."

He shrugged and made his way out of the locker room but not before turning around and making another statement about the fight.

"Hey look at it this way, you helped make a record of the shortest fight ever in the history of golden saucer batt-" He was met with an unpleasant stare from the SeeD, "Er, okay, I am outta of here..."

After Trex had left, it was Marlene and Setzin's turn to speak their share of thoughts. He was prepared to take it all in one ear and leave it out through the other.

"You fought well, kid..." Setzin mumbled before lighting a cigar and happily puffing away with it.

"Yup, you did great Seefoo!" Marlene quipped.

_Are they being sarcastic? They are, aren't they...?_

"Whatever..." came the ready reply, as he wiped the dry blood from his mouth.

Setzin broke into laughter, "You fought like a fuckin' bird, kid!"

Marlene couldn't help but sustain a grin on her face. Even Phillona seemed to find the whole thing weirdly funny but she gave the smile an abrupt end when Sifan looked at her sternly. Marlene too, quietened at once, feeling a bit sorry for the SeeD but Setzin was nowhere near done.

He continued to treat himself to the fine pleasures of laughing at someone else's misery, "Heh Heh, I swear kid, I've seen chocobos last longer in a random encounter..."

"Then maybe you should try fighting him, Setzin..." Sifan said, smiling to himself.

"What ya talkin' about kid? I already did, remember? And I... Er, I..." Setzin stopped laughing, "I, uh, I'll join Trex in the burger stand...Let's go Marlene. The kid here can't take a joke without taking cheap shots."

Marlene snickered as she helped Setzin exit the locker room. After they had left, Phillona walked over to Sifan and handed him a bar of soap, "You smell like Trex's dirty socks..."

_What?_

"Yup, I could smell you all the way from where I was standing..."

"Whatever..."

"Just kidding..." Phillona smiled, "It was just a complimentary from the golden saucer store after some shopping I did..."

"Oh, here..." Phillona removed Sifan's jacket from around her waist, "Yours..."

"No way I am taking that without a dry clean..." Sifan shook his head, "I could smell you all the way from where I was standing..."

Phillona smiled. She felt glad Sifan was not letting the fight or Avatar bother him. It was something she had never seen him do. Then again, she wondered if he was just hiding all the negativity he was feeling. Either way, she was glad to hear Sifan fooling around. She knew how angry and bitter he got when it came to Avatar. She didn't blame him. But at that moment, she felt happy that the whole thing wasn't strong enough to keep him from being light-hearted.

"I thought you were a goner..." Phillona said, "I hate to say it but he kicked your ass pretty hard, pretty fast and pretty easily..."

"I know..." he shrugged with a smile, "I spend half my energy being angry at him rather than putting it into my skills..."

"Wow..." Phillona whistled, "I can't believe you just said that... If you know that's the problem, why don't you just fix it?"

"Not that easy..." He replied, "When I am in front of him, I turn into this.. this... bah, let's not talk about it..."

"Yeah..." the brown-haired girl agreed, "Let's not..."

"Setzin's feeling really funny today, isn't he?" Sifan mused, "Was he laughing like an idiot during the fight too?"

"Nah... quite the opposite..." she replied, "He was very nervous, he just kept scolding you with words I really don't want to recall... He was so carried away that he forgot he was using crutches...I think he was laughing later only because he was happy you got out okay..."

"..."

"Trex was aiming his shotgun at Avatar and an attendant nearby had to take it away from him temporarily. Marlene was trying to cast a 'Regen' spell on you, but from that kind of range, she only managed to hit the ring announcer with it. He was feeling warmer and better than ever... and I was... um.. hiding inside your jacket, peeking out now and then, and the third time I peeked out, the fight was over and you were on the floor..."

"Very funny..."

"There was this guy near me who kept screaming for Avatar to 'Omni-slash' you..."

"Yeah, they love me... absolutely..."

"There was this other guy who wanted Avatar to summon 'Knights of the Round' on you..."

"..."

"And then there was this idiot who wanted Avatar to use 'Esuna' on you..."

"Probably Trex..."

Phillona smiled, "Trex isn't that bad... he knows a bit of magic..."

"I am sure he can't tell the difference between a Marlboro and a grand Marlboro."

"Um... and that is?"

"Oh c'mon, you know that one..."

"No, I don't. Do tell me, oh all-knowing one..."

"Well, uh, it's complicated... you, um, wouldn't understand..."

"Try me..."

"Well, uh, grand Marlboros are kinda bigger and they do, er, meaner things..."

"A grand Marlboro's epidermis has pores three times the size of normal Marlboros. Under its tentacles lie a vast amount of gastric glands. These glands are subjected to initiating factors or agents which can be anything from stimuli to abnormal adrenaline activity. Meaning, the slightest change in body temperature or hormone activity can cause rapid over-functioning of the glands. Moreover, a grand Marlboro's nerve bundles have much faster synaptic activity than the normal ones. So before you can think twice, it's bad breath. Want more details...?"

"I think aliens have taken over your body and they intend to control grand Marlboros to take over the world..."

"Alas! You have learned of us, the aliena race! It's okay. We do not intend to take over this planet. Your leader is wrapped like a mummy, makes stupid jokes, smokes large cigars and uses a girl called 'Marlene' for a crutch. We feel pity for such people. We'll leave at once..."

"I am telling Setzin that..."

"Yeah, right..."

"You called Marlene a 'crutch'..." Sifan shook his head, "And you say I am mean..."

The door flew open and Trex stormed into the room, "Ahem... I know you love-birds need forever together but can't you wait till we get back home? I mean, there's a half-crippled man, his very noisy walking stick and an unbelievably handsome but tired gunslinger waiting for the two of you to get your butts to the airship dock! And Sifan you haven't even washed up yet?"

"Sorry, Trex..." Phillona apologized, "Be there in a minute... "

Trex sighed and left the locker room as Phillona snickered, "love birds, aw, isn't that cute, Seef?"

"Whatever..." the two of them said in unison.

Realizing Trex would probably shoot him if he delayed any longer, Sifan took a quick shower while Phillona waited outside the locker room. As the water fell on him, he closed his eyes and breathed a deep sigh.

"_Let me rid you of your misery. My brother thinks you're not ready yet... He won't kill you till he feels you've given him a fight..."_

_So that's why I'm still alive..._

"_He'll like to fight out just for the sake of it even if you're not ready. It gives him some twisted satisfaction fighting you. So even if he can beat you in a minute, he'll still fight you..."_

_Twisted satisfaction huh?_

"_Right now, Avatar can take you out like he would a grass monster. He doesn't need to lift a finger to flatten the likes of you."_

_She's right..._

"_If you're not going to meet his skills sword to sword, blow to blow, do us all a favor and stay away. Like I said, he has bigger things to worry about..."_

_Bigger things... what are they planning?_

The only reply was the sound of water trickling down his earlobes. With another sigh, the young SeeD stopped the shower and toweled himself, his mind still racing over what Keiara had said.

* * *

"People of Gondola!" Lethan announced loudly climbing onto the wooden pedestal at the center of the village, "Can I please have your attention?"

The people who were gathered around him were clueless as to what the commotion was all about. Lethan had rung the village bell repeatedly exactly at the stroke of midnight. The villagers were never used to hearing the bell rung at such an odd time unless it was a Shin-Ra attack. So thinking it was an emergency, they had rushed out of their houses only to see Lethan flocking everyone together. After much irritation and annoyance, the villagers finally decided to listen to what the young boy had to say.

"People of Gondola, we have an enemy among us!" Lethan yelled, sending a wave of murmurs through the mob, "It's true and I have enough proof to show you who it is!"

"Get to the dang point kid!" shouted an impatient man, "We don't have all night..."

"Very well..." Lethan flipped out the cell phone he had received from Lorenz, "But I'll need your co-operation. I am going to take the phone and call in a few Shin-Ra people. A scientist and a couple of soldiers."

An bewildered gasp resonated through the crowd. After what Shin-Ra had put the village through, the last thing the residents would've imagined was letting them through on their own.

"No way, kid!" An elderly man barked, "Are you nuts? What are you thinking?"

Lethan sighed, "Very well then. It's sad then that you folks will never know who your beloved Sephiroth really is!"

The crowd went silent. After a few seconds, Shoran Jabez stepped out of the crowd, embarrassed about what his son was doing, "Lethan, stop this foolishness!"

"Don't you all want to know the truth?" Lethan shouted, ignoring his father, "Haven't you always wondered who our almighty leader is? Just open those gates and you'll have your answer."

The village people continued to be silent for a while till the village treasurer decided to have his say on the matter, "Let's see what the boy has to show. If any of those soldiers even make a move to attack, we will strike back..."

"Yeah..." another villager agreed. In the minutes that followed, the villagers quickly retrieved heir weapons from their houses and re-gathered around Lethan.

Shoran Jabez turned to his son, "Very well Lethan, let them in... but we will not refuse to attack if the need arises..."

Lethan nodded and quickly made a call on his cell phone, "Yeah, come in..."

Shoran Jabez commanded for the gates to be open and soon, Professor Lorenz entered the village, accompanied by a couple of Shin-Ra soldiers, one of them, who was carrying a large slide projector. The crooked scientist threw a quick stare at the villagers as he entered, noticing that each and every one of them were carrying weapons. The sight seemed to amuse him rather than scaring him.

The soldier set down the projector on a nearby sawed-off tree trunk, focusing the light on the opposite hut's white wall. After a few adjustments, Lorenz took center stage and the 'presentation' was ready to begin.

"What you're about to see..." Lorenz said, after clearing his throat and asking Lethan to step aside, "... is from Shin-Ra's classified section. Everything image or video shown here are from actual events from the past. None of this has been created or invented. For some time now, you've been wondering who the silver-haired stranger of your village is. I'll show you the answer..."

And so, the 'show' began as Professor Lorenz showed every picture that was taken of Sephiroth back in his Shin-Ra and SOLDIER days. The village folk muttered anxiously amongst themselves as image after image of Sephiroth was shown. Even a couple of videos were played, showing their leader commanding Shin-ra soldiers during training outside Nibelheim. As the minutes ticked by, more and more proof was forced down their throats and by the time it was all over, not one of them doubted that their silver-haired savior was Shin-Ra in every way imaginable. Their newly sparked turned into anger as loud, hateful murmurs started to rage amidst them.

Satisfied that he had accomplished his mission, Lorenz switched off the projector and called for the attention of the mob.

"As you just saw, Sephiroth was our top soldier. Unfortunately, some time back, he came under sever memory loss due to overstraining and too much lifestream exposure..."

All of a sudden, it all made sense to the people of Gondola. They had always wondered what Sephiroth's past could be but never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that he was with the enemy. Slowly, pieces of the puzzle were coming together. That's exactly what Lorenz wanted them to believe. And in turn, he wanted their hatred for anything Shin-Ra literally hand Sephiroth over to him. But he had to make sure and at once, he played their worst fears against them.

"His memory is only days away from returning..." Lorenz announced, "So we are here to take him back since we cannot afford to lose our best soldier..."

He reached for his coat pocket and pulled out a rolled-up paper.

"Here is a letter from the president agreeing that if you let us retrieve our most valued soldier without any trouble..." Lorenz cleared his throat, "We will leave Gondola region once and for all. We will withdraw all our troops. Every single soldier. You will never see the Shin-Ra uniform again. The president is a man of integrity. He will keep his word..."

Just as he expected, there were no signs of rebellion. Shoran sighed and read the neatly printed letter as an ironical silence filled the air. He knew he had a decision to make. One than could betray the man who had spent sleepless nights protecting him and his people.

* * *

**_A/N_**:Yes, I am back from the dead. Please review. Next update in few days (Yes, I'll do it…) 


	14. CHAPTER 13

**Chapter 13**

Sifan Leonhart walked out into the airship dock, stretching the arm that Avatar had wrenched wickedly during their fight. The pain seemed to ease a little as he searched for his companions. Strangely, none of them seemed to be around. Only travelers and other regular golden saucer customers seemed to be scattered around the desolate airship dock. Most of the people were still inside, gambling or betting to their heart's content. The others stayed inside because it was probably too early for them to return home. Whatever the reason was, there were very few people at the dock. However, none of them resembled Phillona, Trex, Marlene or Setzin.

The SeeD assumed they had already boarded and he made his his way to an airship a few yards away. He walked up the ramp only to find no one inside. He realized that he was in the wrong airship when someone walked up to him from behind.

"Phillona..." Sifan sighed, relieved to see the brown-haired girl, "Where did everyone go?"

"I have no clue..." she shrugged, "I am looking for them too. Thought I'd just inform them I'll be leaving now..."

"Leaving...? Where?" Sifan blinked, "I thought you were coming back with us."

"Don't look so sad." Phillona smiled, "I hand initial plans to go to Cosmo Canyon remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Sifan recalled, "You met those friends of yours who wanted you to spend the weekend there..."

"Yup. I thought I'd put it away till tomorrow. But since you didn't last that long with Avatar..." She snickered, "I realized I'd still have enough time to catch the next airship to Cosmo Canyon. This is the one I am taking by the way. Your's is the green one at the far end of the dock..."

"Alright..." Sifan nodded, "So I'll see you after the weekend..."

"Yes.." Phillona smiled, "Be a good boy till I get back..."

"Whatever..."

"I don't like your 'whatever' replies anymore..." Phillona grinned.

_Uh-oh..._

"So I shall make you pay by deducting a hug from you..." She said at once, "That will teach you..."

"Great..." Sifan groaned, "Do you have to torture me before you go...?"

"Yeah..." Phillona smiled sheepishly, "And what better torture than making you do what you hate the most? Get all huggy wuggy..."

"Whatever..."

"See, there it is again..." Phillona pointed out, "Now you're really gonna pay. I am going to increase the 'Hug' to 'A long five-minute hug'. Saying 'Whatever' again will only increase the degree of punishment further."

"You know..." the brown-haired boy sighed, "I fail to see how this is going to punish me for-"

Before he could say anything more, She slid her arms around his neck and, despite his best efforts of pull away, he found himself fastening his arms around her too. She didn't have to ask for them anymore. It just happened before he even realized what he was doing. Yet, a part of him felt uneasy.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

He tried to pull away but a strong, weighed-down feeling refused to let him do it. He still wanted to fight it but with every try, he failed. He swallowed, not knowing what to do with this weakness he had for the girl in front of him.

_It was never like this in the beginning_.

He used to have complete control over his actions. He used to dictate exactly what he felt. He withdrew, moved away or did just as he pleased but how things had changed. Gone were the days when he easily walked away without second thought. All he had to do was give himself some stupid excuse and back off but now, even a thousand logical reasons were not a factor. No more would his heart listen to his head.

_Why am I so helpless...?_

He was clueless what to do. He panicked at the thought of losing to her. It unnerved him for a while. But the passing seconds spent in her embrace turned his restlessness to comfort. He let the warmth take him and slowly, unwillingly, he gave in. In an eventual moment of acceptance, he stopped fighting. He stopped trying. Slowly, he let his tired arms pull her closer.

At once, he felt he like he had just committed the biggest crime on earth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Shh..." She placed a finger on his lips.

"..."

"I'm your's, Seef..." She took his arms and placed them around her waist again, "Keep me as close as you want..."

Seconds passed, and so did minutes. Minutes in which Sifan Leonhart realized that he was willing to feel again, to trust again, and for once, he wasn't scared about it. He knew that it meant trusting his security to someone else. But when he looked into the eyes of the girl in front of him, he had no regrets. He'd gladly let her wrap him around her finger.

The five-minute punishment seemed to be going overtime and eventually, Phillona decided to give him the space he needed. He was just learning to love. She had to make sure she taught him slowly. She gently pulled away from him, fastening his fingers in her's.

"Now..." She smiled at him, "That should teach you to behave..."

"Whatever..." was the earnest reply.

A rather fever-ridden Sephiroth limped out of his cottage to see what the commotion outside was all about. He was more than just a little surprised to see Shin-Ra personnel standing near Lethan. He slowly walked through the mob and made his way to the front. He coughed a couple of times dryly and fixed his bloodshot eyes on Shoran Jabez.

"Shoran, What's going on h-here...?" He said in a dull tone, the cold air heightening his fever at once, "Shoran...?"

"..."

"S-Shoran?" the silver-haired man repeated. Silence was the only response he received again.

The elderly man turned away from Sephiroth. He raised his hand and at once, the mob gathered around stepped away from Sephiroth, leaving a clear path between the Shin-Ra soldiers and the silver-haired man.

"W-What's happening here...?" He coughed again, this time, a small trickle of blood appearing from the edge of his lips.

"I am sorry..." was all Shoran said, before walking away into the distance towards his hut.

He slowly turned to Lethan and looked at him.

"Lethan... W-What...?" he said, struggling to speak, feeling the effects of the drug's giant dosage, "Lethan..."

The fiery satisfaction that burned in Lethan's eyes didn't do much to comfort Sephiroth. Neither did the agonizing pain that gripped his stomach. His legs began to tremble as the village folk stepped even farther away from him. Finally, his limbs gave way and he fell to the ground on his knees, coughing up blood. He stretched out his hand but not a single soul stepped forward. His vision blurred as he watched the figure of a soldier walk up to him and sink a syringe into his neck. He tried to defend himself but neither his arms nor his body seemed to obey him. Complete paralysis took over as another soldier joined the one that that injected him. The soldiers roughly grabbed him by his arms and soon, he felt himself being slowly dragged along the ground towards the village exit.

With hazy eyes and a cloudy vision, he saw many a face that he had known for the past month. The blacksmith he had once saved from a ruby dragon showed no sign of emotion. Neither did the woman for whom he had collected firewood from the mountains every week. Nor did the old weapon seller he had rescued from Shin-Ra soldiers a few days ago. The little boy he had so often carried on his shoulders refused to even look at him. Shoran was nowhere to be seen and Lethan watched on with a smug grin on his face. None of them were strangers. He knew all of them by name. Almost each and every one of them owed him their gratitude for tremendous amounts of help. It was he who had fended away innumerable Shin-Ra attacks, let alone dragons and monsters. Still, none of that seemed to matter at that moment, as the soldiers continued to pull him away towards the gate. He was too tired to feel, too sick to even know what exactly was going on but the fact that it was a betrayal was clear. A cold, heartless betrayal. He watched with bloodshot eyes as the gatekeeper closed the village gates on his face once and for all.

Once they were outside, he felt his hapless body being thrown violently into the back of a truck. The doors were shut and darkness covered his paralyzed form at once. He closed his eyes and tried to think but the only thing that came to his mind was the sight of the villagers allowing the soldiers to drag him away. He had always wondered who he was and where he had come from. He had never found out but as he spent his days in the village, it had become of little importance. And the reason for that was he had people who he thought was worth letting it all go for. As far as he was concerned, _they_ were his parents. _They_ were his family. But now, they were the ones who had turned him into the arms of the enemy for some reason he still couldn't comprehend. He shuddered as he felt the truck's engine coming to life. Tears of agony and pain streamed down his face as both body and mind succumbed to the illness from the drugs. He screamed to stay awake but soon faded away into unconsciousness. The only sound that remained was that of his limp body being tossed from side to side as the bumpy truck headed towards the nearest Shin-Ra base.

* * *

Sifan Leonhart anxiously looked at the ticking clock at the far end of the airship's lobby. It was almost departure time and yet, neither Trex, Marlene nor Setzin were to be seen anywhere. He took a second glance at the time and decided he'd search for them and find them before the airship left them behind.

After checking the wonder square lobbies, the food stalls and the betting stands, he decided to check again in the main restaurant. Just as he crossed the changing rooms, suddenly, out of nowhere, an arrow flew across from above him and struck the wooden door inches in front of him. The SeeD, at once, tried to find the arrow's sender, looking in the direction it had come from. The only thing he saw was a quick shadow bolt out of sight. It was nothing more than a blur and Sifan decided there was no point in chasing after him as he was too far away. He turned his attention to the arrow. Just below it's head was attached a small note. He quickly removed the piece of folded paper and opened it up. The words written inside were short and simple.

'The abandoned B3 storage floor. Take the service elevator at end of the Ground floor storeroom. Your friends are there.'

_Great. More complications. Or for all I know this is probably some prank Trex is playing..._

The storeroom on the ground floor was fortunately abandoned and there were no golden saucer staff around to prevent Sifan from entering it. The storeroom was dimly lit, often making Sifan feel his way around the dark corners. Another thing that irritated the young Leonhart was the dust that unsettled every time he took a step. After a few minutes of coughing and stumbling into empty cartons, the SeeD finally found the elevator mentioned in the note. He climbed into it and quickly pressed the half broken B3 button on the half-rusted panel. After hacking and whirring into life, the elevator slowly took him past the other two basement floors before eventually grinding to a halt at the B3 floor. Sifan hurriedly stepped out of the elevator, hoping to hear Trex jump out and say something remotely prank-worthy. Unfortunately for Sifan, the only noise he heard was from a rat scurrying across the metal beams that held a weak-cement roof. The SeeD's eyes slowly adjusted to the light as he walked to the center of the storeroom littered with more cartons, broken mechanical parts and other scraps of metal. Suddenly, along the corner of his eyes, he noticed some movement at the end of the room that seemed to be more than what some rodent would make. Sifan walked up to the place which had caught his attention and what he saw startled him.

Trex and Marlene were gagged and tied up to a metal pipe at the corner. Before Sifan could comprehend what was going on, a hard blow struck him on his neck and he fell to his knees, blackness overcoming all his senses.

* * *

"Aeris.."

"Yes, My Lord?"

"The Gods think of me a mighty fool..."

"..."

"They think I am more human than God..."

"..."

"I hope my faith and trust in you will not yield bitter fruits, Aeris..."

"As long as I have them my Lord, I shall see to it that you are not disappointed..."

"So tell me, my fair Goddess, is this cub of yours ready to walk the way of the Lionhearted?"

"Not yet, my Lord..."

"He does take his time, does he not?"

"Unlike the last Lionheart, he's not in his natural surroundings. It was expected that he would take time to be wary of things around him..."

"But when he is ready, I hope you realize that I shall test him myself..."

"You have mentioned it before my Lord, but Lord Odin said he would take care of that..."

"No, Aeris, this one... I want to see for myself..."

"..."

"Great is the hope and expectancies you place on this one..."

"..."

"It would be a shame if I can't see what his sword is made of..."

"So be it , My Lord..."

* * *

The electronic metal clamps locked themselves into place around both of Sephiroth's wrists, followed by those on his ankles. Another clamp quickly went around his neck and a few seconds later, a final one made sure his waist was securely fastened to the torture device. With a loud mechanical noise, the machine slowly erected into an upright position and soon it stood facing the group of soldiers that were operating it.

"We're not supposed to be doing this..." stuttered a nervous Shin-Ra soldier, "Professor Lorenz will have our heads if he found out..."

"He's 500 miles away excavating a mining site..." replied another soldier, "Like hell he'll find out..."

"Besides..." said a Shin-Ra trooper, eagerly walking up to a semi-conscious Sephiroth, "It's not Lorenz's comrades that died at the hands of this thing here..."

"I don't know..." the nervous soldier replied, "He's still one of us. Lorenz told us, didn't he? About the fact that he'd just lost his memory and-"

"It doesn't matter." cut in the trooper, "He killed a lot of my friends. Now it's payback time. If you can't stand to watch, get out."

The sympathetic soldier decided he was not going to play a part on whatever the rest of them were planning. He opted out of the whatever the rest of them were planning and quickly ran out of the bunker.

The other soldiers however, nodded in agreement with the trooper, who seemed to be spearheading the entire thing.

"That coward can leave if he wants..." said one of the soldiers as they turned their attention to Sephiroth, "Let's squeeze the life out of this son of a bitch for all the shit he's done."

The trooper ordered his fellow soldiers to close the shutters around the large bunker. He didn't want anybody hearing the screams he was about to extract from his torture subject.

"So..." the trooper snickered, turning the voltage knob on the panel, "How about we start this show with some electricity?"

Sparks flew across the face of the torture device as blue electric surges ran across Sephiroth's body like ropes of lightning, making him cry out in unbearable pain. The trooper only turned up the knob even higher, causing more ripples of shock to pound the hapless body of the silver-haired man. His shouts of agony continued to excite the soldiers as they watched on with glee. After a few more minutes filled with screams of anguish from their victim, they decided to stop just to see if he was still alive.

A soldier touched the dark burns across the body of an unconscious Sephiroth.

"Nice..." he smiled, "That's how your ultima Spell would've felt if you didn't know..."

"Is he alive?" inquired the trooper, looking at the wisps of smoke rising from the limp body of the ex-SOLDIER.

"Yes.." the soldier replied, "Unfortunately..."

"Hmmm..." The trooper said, "I think that should be enough. Let's put him back in the lab."

"What? But that was hardly anything!" the rest of them protested, eager for more pain, "We want more!"

"We'll bring him back here when Lorenz is asleep..." came the quick assurance, "I'm just _starting_ to enjoy this..."

* * *

_**A/N: **_Yes. Update. Finally. Thanks to rougueblade for the wake-up call. Next chapter up soon. Please review.

* * *


	15. CHAPTER 14

**Chapter 14**

A throbbing headache rudely welcomed Sifan Leonhart back to consiousness as his blurry vision slowly became clear. He was forced to rub the back of his neck which still seemed to be reeling under the blow it had received earlier. He lethargically surveyed his surroundings as he got to his feet. He was more than a little surprised at what he saw.

The interiors of the large wooden cottage was beautifully set up with an assortment of paintings, flower vases and some uniquely elegant furniture . A well-crafted fireplace was burning brightly, imparting a hazy but charming atmosphere to the entire room. Trex Denver was standing near a large potrait of a lion, engaged in deep coversation with Jack Shinobis, the ninja from the Golden saucer competition. On the opposited side, sprawled comfortably in a dark brown couch, Aura, the mage that had almost killed Sifan recklessly was busy discussing some pointless gossip with Marlene Wallace. Somehow, this was _not _the setting the SeeD had expected to wake up to.

It didn't take long for the rest of the room's occupants to notice that Sifan was awake.

"Woo hoo! Seefoo's awake..." Marlene was the first to erupt, "You slept like a baby!"

Sifan groaned, still clenching his sore neck, "What's happening here...?"

"Allow me to explain..." Jack stepped up.

The ninja could clearly make out that Sifan was not impressed with whatever was happening and he quickly made it a point to start with an apology.

"About that..." he said, pointing to the SeeD's neck, "My apologies if my blow landed too hard. I didn't think you'd go down so easily..."

Marlene and Trex snickered but quickly turned serious when Sifan glared at them.

"I am still waiting for an explanation.." Sifan said, fixing Jack with a firm stare.

"Well, first off..." Jack said, pointing to Aura, "It was Aura's job to bring all of you here but unfortunately, little miss sunshine can't do much except complicate things..."

"Hmph..." Aura grumbled, "Well, Atleast I do things in a more civilised manner instead of going around knocking everybody unconscious..."

"Ahem..." Jack cleared his throat, "It was Aura's job to bring you here. So she tried that 'From Squall Leonhart' letter and addressed it to you. Obviously, you didn't think it was authentic."

"Actually..." Sifan sighed, "I was planning to follow what that letter said just to see who was pulling all these stupid strings..."

"Oh you did!?" the blonde-haired girl lit up, "See Jack? If only we had waited a bit. Sifan here wouldn't hava had to be _carried _in here with a half-broken neck."

"Anyway..." Jack continued, ignoring Aura and turning back to the SeeD, "So, you showed up at the battle square competition and to our luck, you were paired with Aura for a fight. That's when we decided we would use the chance to bring you here. Somehow, Aura screwed up again. She was supposed to use an 'eventual sleep' spell on you during that battle. She ended up misplacing the materia somwhere before the fight..."

_And tried to meteor me to sleep instead? Real smart..._

"Can we not highlight my mistakes over and over again please?" Aura protested.

"So finally..." Jack exlpained, "I decided to take matters into my own hands..."

"Marlene and Trex were easy targets..." the ninja pointed out, "Their interests are so different that they can never stand in the same place together for more than ten minutes. Trex was not hard at all. Mainly because he was snooping around the storeroom all by himself when I found him."

"Do heaps of useless metal always interest you so much?" Jack sighed, looking at the gunslinger.

Trex shrugged as Jack continued, "Once I had him, I lured Marlene down to the basement and then you, Sifan."

"I, er, ran out of chloroform." he smiled sheepishly, "So, um... I had to resort to the age old method-"

"I get your point." Sifan grumbled, flexing his neck.

"We actually thought we'd get Sifan here first..." said Aura, "And _then _the rest of you..."

"But Jack Shinobis is good enough to do it all at once..." Jack grinned, "However, that Setzin character was left to Aura. She did that right for once though..."

"He's here too?" Sifan said, surprised, "Where?"

"Out for a walk..."

"You should've seen me!" Aura came to life, "There he was... in the wrong airship looking for the rest of you, with those cute little crutches and then, bam! SLEEP!"

Sifan sighed.

Jack couldn't help but poke more fun at Aura, "Yes, you need a man to be in crutches to take him down..."

The two of them were about to start a heated argument but Sifan interrupted in time, "You still have to answer some more things. I'm not ready to play happy camper yet..."

"Shoot." the ninja said, throwing himself on a rocking chair as the rest of them seated themselves.

"Why were you after me? How do you know my father's name? What the hell is all this about? It makes no sense." Sifan grew annoyed, "How do you know me?"

There was no reply.

"Well, that, _and _the rest..." Aura said after a few seconds..

"... is for Goshen to explain..." Jack completed, leaning back on the chair with a yawn.

"Goshen?" Sifan raised an eyebrow, "Who-"

"You'll learn soon..." Jack said, springing to his feet, "Anyway, me and Aura have some work to do..."

"Like what?" Sifan fumed, "Kidnapping more people?"

"Call it what you want..." came the reply, "I prefer to call it... 'A desperate measure'..."

"Hey, it's not like you guys are our prisoners you know..." Aura reminded them, "You're all free to go where you want, just don't get yourselves killed by monsters or something ..."

"Where exactly are we, anyway?" Sifan queried.

"We're in the Gondolian Mountains, Sifan..." Marlene was quick to contribute, "It's around 2 hours from the Golden saucer..."

"And I suppose, we'll be here till...?" Sifan asked, turning to Jack, still not too pleased with how things had taken an unexpected twist.

"Till Goshen tells you all what to do..." the ninja grew annoyed, "Are you done with the questions?"

"..."

"Good... Take a breather for God's sake..." said Aura, "You're in a nice place. You should take a trip to the summit. The view from there is simply breathtaking. Then, there's the crystal pond too..."

"..."

"Thank you..." Marlene answered for Sifan with a smile, "We'll check it out..."

"Sorry about the rough trip here though..." Jack apologized before he and Aura closed the door behind them and exited the spacious wooden cottage.

A few seconds after they'd left, the SeeD turned around to Trex and Marlene.

"Hold it." Marlene Wallace put a hand up, "I know what you want to say. You're probably wondering why we're co-operating with those two and making ourselves at home..."

"Yes..." Sifan mumbled, "Enlighten me there..."

"Sorry, no answer. Except, well..." she smiled sheepishly, "They seem nice..."

"You were brought here _against _your will. You were _kidnapped _to be precise..." Sifan stated, surprised at his friends who were sporting a very casual attitude.

Nobody seemed to be complaining and Sifan decided it was pointless,"You guys don't really mind being here?"

The two of them just smiled, "Nope, not at all..."

"And besides..." Marlene quipped, "This Goshen guy seems to know all about you, Seefoo! It just gets more intriguing. Can't wait to hear the reason he has to bring us here. Ooh, maybe we get to save the world like our parents!"

"Yeah, and..." Trex said, opening up a window, "I've always wanted to take a nice stroll through those Gondolian mountain forests. Heard you get all sorts of fast-ammo ingredients in there..."

"Did Setzin say when he's coming back?" the young Leonhart was not too interested in Trex's idea, "Is he going to be out all day...?"

"Aw. Give the guy a break..." Trex grinned, "He's spent a lot of time holed up ever since he got whooped in that fight. He can use the change of scenery."

Sifan could only sigh and as minutes passed, the three of them lazed around the large cottage, reading scattered magazines, watching a television set that strangely, seemed to pick up broadcast signals all the way up in the mountains. An uneventful hour passed and it wasn't long before Marlene suggested that they go exploring.

The gunslinger was more than up for it, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. How about we check out that summit view? Let's see how many echoes we can get back..."

"Alright..." the girl nodded, "And if we catch a mountain Chocobo, he's mine and there's no way I'm sharing him with you..."

"Alright. Yo, Sifan..." Trex asked, "You comin'?"

"Nah..." the SeeD declined. "Setzin might be comin' back anytime soon. I need to ask him a few things."

"Alright, suit yourself..." Marlene said before she and Trex ran out of the cottage, leaving the young Leonhart all by himself in the room that seemed even more spacious now.

* * *

"We don't have all day..." The Shin-Ra trooper barked, "Hurry up and get him conscious..."

"Don't worry, Sir..." the soldier replied, as he removed the syringe needle from the silver-haired man's arm, "He'll be consicous just in time to feel the pain..."

The leader readied the whip in his hand with a crooked smile as the other soldiers tied Sephiroth to the pillar in the middle of the room. He waited impatiently for his victim to return to awareness as the other soldiers closed the shutters as usual. After a few minutes, a low moan from the ex-SOLDIER was all the soldiers needed to tighten the chains that bound him.

The trooper removed his coat and tossed it to a nearby personnel as he cracked his knuckles and walked to where Sephiroth stood on shaky knees.

"If you thought I was done with you after that torture machine..." he cackled, "You have no idea how wrong you are..."

He raised the leather whip and with all his might, delivered a deafening lash to the limp body in front of him. The painful scream that resulted was music to his ears.

"Oh, that was sweet, wasn't it?" he cried, "How about a dozen more?"

"S-Stop..." the words from the silver-haired man's mouth were barely audible, "P-Please..."

"Not so strong now, are you!?" the leader laughed as he landed another blow, causing a bloody line to appear on his body. More appeared in the following seconds as sweat mixed with blood ran down the back of a semi-conscious Sephiroth.

The trooper relentlessly tortured his subject with ceaseless energy, whipping him left and right. In the seconds that passed, the only sound that prevailed was that of the whip cutting across the air and Sephiroth's pleads for mercy. With every lash, his screams grew louder till at one point, he could cry no more and took the 'punishment' with only tears streaming down his face.

After a few more minutes, the soldiers smiled satisfactorily, looking at the bloody mesh of lines on the body in front of him. The man who was responsible for it seemed equally pleased with the spectacle of blood and sweat as the other men looked on.

"I am leaving now. Make sure you throw a potion or two at the dog so that his scars disappear..." the trooper said as he handed the whip to the other soldiers, "and put him back before Lorenz gets back to the base..."

"We'll be done in no time, sir..." the soldier replied, taking the whip from their leader and turning back to Sephiroth with a cruel smile, "In no time at all, sir..."

* * *

Sifan felt a little unhappy that he had to lie about why he wanted to stay back. He had nothing to ask Setzin. The program airing on the television was about 'The myth of METEOR...'

"METEOR was always linked with Sephiroth" Phillona had told him some time ago, "Whether it's the truth or not, not many people know..."

"You're gonna hear a lotta people say shit like METEOR is an old woman's tale..." he remembered Setzin telling him once, "It's no myth boy. It happened. I was a teenager when it did. I remember, this giant red ball just gettin' closer and closer..."

Setzin's words echoed in Sifan's head, "It was no myth boy..."

The television program showed a community analyst repeatedly stating that METEOR was just a rumour started by some Shin-Ra rebels trying to spread panic among the people. Another 'fact' the program presenter pointed out was, what they saw in the sky that night METEOR occurred, was a perfectly normal space phenomenon and was nothing more than a passing meteor that 'disintegrated' before hitting the planet. He frequently stressed the point that it was not some magic spell that brought the meteor like many believed. A few more such 'analysts' appeared and boasted about how Shin-Ra had done a brilliant job in making sure nobody panicked. Finally, before the program finished, an elderly man showed up on the screen and explained how it was scientifically impossible to summon something so far away from the planet.

_They're so hell-bent on proving what they're saying is the truth they're making it obvious that it's not..._

"Switch off that rubbish, kid..." A weary setzin said as he entered the room, slightly limping on one crutch, "It's not good for the healthy mind..."

"What happened to the other one?" the SeeD pointed to Setzin's lone crutch as the poacher sat next to him on the couch.

"I got attacked by some goddamn wolf." the one-eyed man grumbled, "I broke it on it's head..."

Sifan smiled.

"My legs feel a lot stronger now, kid. I think I won't be needing these stupid crutches anymore..." Setzin said, turning his attention to the credits rolling on the TV screen, "You watched all that gibberish?"

Sifan nodded.

"About how it's all bullshit and none o' that ever happened?" Setzin lit a cigar, "Those bastards are so stupid it makes me laugh..."

"So what do _you _think happened?_"_

"All of it..." Setzin said, taking a quick puff and leaning back, "That METEOR thing happened. It was _made _to happen. In the end, the planet managed to protect itself. It saved all our asses. It's all thanks to the lifestream that the METEOR thing didn't turn this planet to a ball of floating dust."

"So this METEOR... how as it _made _to happen?"

"That..." Setzin smiled, "Black Materia, kid..."

"Black materia?"

"Yup..." Setzin sent out another circular puff from his cigar, "Someone knew how to use it. They did. And well, that's how METEOR happened..."

"So... Who was this _someone?"_

"No one knows..." Setzin mumbled, "Some say it's Shin-Ra themselves, so they could strike some fear into the people. Some say a bunch of suicidal mages got hold of it. If you ask me, nobody in Shin-Ra has the grey matter to know how to use somethin' like the black materia. And I sure as hell know not even an ultra-suicidal maniac would like to get burned by a meteor. As far as I can guess, it has to be someone who was plain out of his mind..."

"Sephiroth...?"

"Wha-?" Setzin's cigar dropped from his mouth to the ground.

"Sephiroth..."

Setzin put out his cigar, picked up the butt and put it into the ash tray on the coffee table. He then looked at Sifan with a deep stare and then burst out laughing, "Sephiroth! Haven't heard that name mentioned in ages. Only ol' grandpop Kaida back in Wutai liked tellin' people that story. Sephiroth and his Katana. He used to boast about how he made Sephiroth's Katana from the magical blue flame of the Wutai dragon Shrine."

"Yeah...?"

"Nobody believed the ol' cooter, though..." the poacher sighed, "Ah those tales. I miss em'. You should hear em' Kid. In fact, how about we all head over to Wutai to meet the ol' fox himself, eh? Let's see what this Goshen or whatever Jack was talkin' about has to say first. Then, we can go there. It would be nice to meet all those morons back home..."

"That would be okay, I guess..." Sifan pondered, "Yeah.. okay, let's do that."

"By the way..." Setzin said, "I was planning on telling ya but I forgot. Er, Jack's originally from Wutai."

"What?"

"Jack Shinobis..." the one-eyed man seemed lost in thought, "He was the best student Wutai's martial academy ever had. Half way through, the kid ran away cause the place was too strict with him. I was supposed to fetch him back..."

"..."

"I did manage to catch him, or should I say, get caught by him, out in the midgar plains once. He was hunting down some bandit." he continued, "He thought _I_ was the bandit. He almost sliced my head off, the little runt."

"And...?"

"Well, a bit later he recognized me. I was one of his father's closest friends. There's no way the boy wouldn't recognize me. 'Mercenary for hire'. That's what he said he was. I decided the kid was too wild to be tamed. So I went back and told those guys he ain't comin' back. They were actually pretty happy to hear it. They always thought the kid was trouble. It was just formality to go after a runaway student."

"Too bad Aura didn't know any of that." Sifan sighed, "I didn't know you got hit by sleep spells, Setzin..."

"The lil' thing caught me off guard..." he defended himself, "Ah well... I was lookin' forward to comin' to this side of the woods for a long time too..."

"Not you too..." Sifan sighed.

"Go outside kid... You'll see how beautiful this place is..."

* * *

The computer screen flickered dimly in front of Professor Lorenz's face. The crooked man hurriedly typed in more inputs and made sure the headband of colorful wires were firmly placed on his subject's head.

"You look so harmless when you're asleep, Sephy ol' boy..." He muttered as he injected a syringe into the silver-haired man's arm, "Just a few more tests and we'll be back to blank pretty soon..."

The scientist then ran back to the computer and began to type away on his keyboard, mumbling some random things under his breath as he did so.

Soon, he looked up at the screen to see what the computer had to say.

Lifestream status:

Alpha-strand: Intact, Beta-strand:Intact, Gamma strand:Intact

"Now... a little tweak here.." Lorenz rambled, working his fingers vigorously on the keyboard, "and another tweak here and..."

Modify Beta-strand? Y/N

-Y

Extend Strand Partition/Decrease Strand Partition

-Decrease

Enter Percentage of slice:

-100

Anterior/Posterior

-Posterior

Default function unavailable. Insert path for algorithm:

-F://4566//2AN//Algpos.123

Algorithm loaded: Success! Continue? Y/N

-Y

Decrease posterior partition of beta strand by 100? Process is irreversible: Confirm? Y/N

-Y

Starting Beta-Strand modification: 1 complete

"Ah..." Lorenz heaved a huge sigh, looking at the unconscious form of Sephiroth, "Just a matter of few minutes now, ol' boy. You'll be as good as new."

Minutes passed and soon, the computer sparked Lorenz's attention again.

Beta-Strand modification: Complete

A bright smile lit up on Lorenz's face but it disappeared almost at once when the screen displayed a warning.

WARNING! Gamma-strand: Unstable!!

Memory status: 02:30:56 hours left for unsupression!! Cause for unsupression: Gamma-strand unstability!! Suspension recommended!!

""Shit! Damn that fuckin' Kid..." Lorenz cursed Lethan as he jumped to his feet "Should've never given that fool those bloody drugs!"

The computer screen continued to flicker in red as Lorenz tried everything he can to regain control of the situation. After few minutes of panick, he finally managed to come up with a temporary solution.

Suspend inputs received! Suspend operation?Y/N

-Y

Operation suspended. Abort? Y/N

-Y

Operation Aborted: Subject's strand values saved at time 23:05. Close? Y/N

-Y

The screen stopped flaring up and returned to normal as Lorenz looked at the digital clock on the table which read, "23:06"

"Shit..." Lorenz fumed, "Damn. I have to start all over again tomorrow."

The crooked man pulled a cover over Sephiroth's unconsicous body and shut down the computer. He walked up and down his room, thinking and waving his hands in the air but soon collapsed in his chair. He was lost deep in thought again when his phone went off suddenly, startling the scientist.

He sighed as he answered the call, "Lorenz here."

"How did it go?" blurted out the voice at the other end, "Well, I presume..."

"Almost..." Lorenz answered with a sigh.

"Almost?"

"Some unstability issues..."

"Told you that would happen, didn't I?"

"Nothing I can't handle, Renold..."

"Ah, you never change, Lorenz..."

"You still doubt my abilities, don't you Renold...?"

"Not at all Lorenz. It's just that you tend to go overboard sometimes. Like when you tried that lifestream resurrection rubbish and it didn't work..."

"Yes, it's a pity it _didn't _work, Renold..." Lorenz smiled as he lied, "It's a pity, indeed..."

"Who's this subject you're working on?" Prof. Renold asked, "Not that it's any of my business..."

"Just a burnout, my friend..." Lorenz lied again.

"Any other developments that _did _work?"

"The Beta-strand manipulation came through with no problems..."

"Oh that's good. Anterior's never a prob-"

"Posterior, Renold..." Lorenz stressed, "I removed the posterior..."

"P-Posterior?"

"Yes. I wrote my own algorithm."

"So... it's true? Removing the posterior part of the beta strand destroys the subject's ability to alter his emotions in response to stimuli?"

"I am hoping that would be true..."

"Lorenz... you're creating a mindless monster..."

"..."

"And if anybody comes to know-"

"They'll throw my ass in prison for the rest of my life?"

"Yes..."

"I don't give a damn, Renold. I'd love to make an inch of development in science even if it means spending the rest of my life in prison..."

"..."

"..."

"Hmm... So what exactly went wrong with the unstability issues?" Renold broke the uneasy silence.

"Memory unsupression problems. It started a memory refresh countdown because the gamma-strand's stability started to decrease..."

"That's weird... was the subject under some extreme H-drug use?"

"No idea, Renold..." Lorenz lied yet again.

"So you suspended it, right?"

"Of course. I'll wait for the values to return to default and start again."

"But-"

"Yes. It will take for a week or two..." Lorenz sighed, "So you'll have to wait a bit for the conclusions you needed to start your little project..."

"My ambitions are smaller, Lorenz..."

"Perhaps..."

"Ah... I have to go get some work done now..."

"As you wish, Renold..."

"And one more thing, Lorenz..."

"Make sure you keep the subject away from electro magnetic exposure. I read that gamma strands are easily-"

"Yes, Renold. That's nice of you but I shall not overlook such matters."

Lorenz switched off the phone abruptly as he walked to the still body of the Ex-SOLDIER lying on his observation table. He removed the cover and ran his hand through some dark burns across the torso and legs. His eyebrows came together as a small suspicion of foul play entered his mind. Before he could attempt to understand anything else, the intercom beeped loudly, "Professor, the president needs to talk to you about the mining site excavation. I am patching him through in 10 seconds."

The crooked man quickly covered Sephiroth's unconsious body and pushed the observation table out of the conference camera's view. Lorenz cleared his throat as the Shin-Ra President's face appeared on the giant screen over the intercom.

"Good evening Lorenz. What news of the excavation?"

"Well, sir. We _did _find this dragon cave you mentioned..."

"And... did you find the materia stones?"

"We found Neo Bahamut sir..."

"Ah... good..."

"However, we've been beaten to the Zero Bahamut stone sir..."

"WHAT!?"

"My apology, Mr. President..." Lorenz quickly added, "But Neo Bahamut should be enough to burn down the sleeping forest..."

"I don't care Lorenz! I'm not settling for anything less..."

"I don't mean to sound arrogant, sir..." the scientist debated, "But from what I've studied, Neo's power is as strong as Zero's. Zero simply has a larger range. And the sleeping forest falls well under Neo's range. So I-"

"Very well, Lorenz..." the president sighed, "But do you have any information as to who took the stone?"

"Well, Rupert did find some clues, sir, and-"

"I don't care who it is..." Shin-Ra's president scowled, "We'll use Neo Bahamut for the sleeping forest but I still want Zero. I want the fool who took the stone dead and that materia retrieved."

"That won't be easy sir..."

"And why is that, Lorenz?"

"Rupert found some finger prints on some of the other useless materia.."

"And...?"

"Sir, it's with red demon..."

"Red demon? He's dead, Lorenz. You make no sense."

"He never died even though he was aboard Cloud Strife's airship when we shot it down..."

"What!?"

"He was a demon with wings, Mr. President. You remember that, don't you sir...?"

"Where was he all these years...?"

"Probably hiding and plotting, sir..."

"All those rumours and sightings were true then?"

"It seems so, sir..."

"So..." the president's tone grew shaky, "Vincent Valentine lives..."

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Well, there. Long chapter. Hmm. Wow. Good to know people still know this fic exists. Will be nice if more reviews showed up though. But I guess I am to blame for being dormant so long. Anyhow, Please take a few minutes to drop a review. Thank you. :) 


	16. CHAPTER 15

_**Chapter 15**_

"Stravos is more than enough, Keiara..." a glum Avatar Fenis insisted as he stood leaning on the walls of the cave, "I don't understand why you insist Dhaos be summoned too..."

"Because, dear brother..." Keiara Fenis replied, as she cleared the cobwebs over a large signet stone with her sword, "Stravos' allegiance grows stronger once Dhaos is here..."

"The Fenis guardians' loyalty is _not _a question, Keiara..." Avatar pointed out, "Still, Dhaos' powers are not needed..."

"Avatar!" Keiara grew irate, "You have no idea how strong Stravos and Dhaos can be together. Dhaos' presence can only make Stravos stronger..."

"Do as you please..." Avatar resigned, "But remember, Dhaos' allegiance was never easy to conquer. Father told me when I was small. Yes I remember. I owe it to that memory machine."

"We shall see..." Keiara walked over to Avatar, "The ring, if you don't mind, Avatar."

The SeeD removed his ring and placed it on his sister's palm, "You speak to Dhaos. I want no part in this."

Keiara nodded and placed the ring into the fissure on the signet stone. Few eventless seconds passed but soon, the wall at the far end of the chamber began to glow bright red. And then without warning, it shattered into pieces, collapsing into mere rubble.

The dust cleared and in the vicinity stood a huge warrior, completely cloaked in red, with a sword of fire hanging on his right. His eyes were a ghostly white, imparting a strong, powerful look of authority.

Dhaos stepped down from were he stood and walked towards them, his long fiery red cape trailing in his wake. He placed a hand on his sword as he spoke with a voice that echoed so loudly that small bits of stone fell from the broken wall.

"And who are you, to summon the guardians of the Fenis emblem?" He spoke, "Answer swiftly, for my patience is short and that of my wrath is even shorter..."

"Watch your tongue, Dhaos!" Keiara stood unfazed, "For we are not stray mongrels!"

Dhaos laughed so loudly that it even un-nerved even a normally composed Avatar.

"Such strong words!" the Fenis guardian scoffed at them, "And who might you be to speak with such valor at the face of an imminent death?"

"Do not be so brash, Dhaos..." Keiara stood her ground, "You will bow and offer your allegiance, for you still owe servitude to the Fenis throne..."

"Fenis throne, you say?" Dhaos mocked Avatar, "I pity the unworthy tongue that utters that name simply to try and wield my power..."

"Avatar..." Keiara decided to let her brother do the talking, "I am not doing this..."

"Avatar...?" Dhaos laughed again, "You even mention the prince's name? I shall enjoy goring your unworthy carcasses into two..."

Finally, Avatar decided he'd had enough of the new Fenis guardian's arrogance. He swiftly removed one of his swords as he walked over to him.

He placed it at the neck of Dhaos, showing no hint of fear as he spoke, "This sword's sole purpose is to slay Queen Ultimecia's foes and anyone who opposes the authority of the house of Fenis. The dark Katana. It was crafted in the fires of Nebulis. The same fire that burns on your sword. Mock me once more and you shall answer to this blade. It shall have no pity on what's left of your undead soul."

Dhaos grew silent. He looked at the fiery determination that burned in Avatar's eyes. And then slowly, his gaze fell on Avatar's ring that was placed on the signet stone.

"Forgive my impudence..." Dhaos knelt at once, "I sensed Stravos' presence by your side but all these countless years of disbelief have clouded my judgement. I beg your forgiveness. My words were spoken in haste. You have my sword, Prince Avatar..."

"Arise, Dhaos. Your actions are forgiven..." Avatar removed the Fenis ring and placed it back on his finger and sheathed his sword, "Tell me then. What does it require of me to summon your service or that of Stravos in battle?"

"One single scratch by an enemy on you, my prince, and he shall know that Stravos' wrath will be a terrible thing to behold..." Dhaos spoke calmly, still kneeling before Avatar, "But should you require my sword, simply plunge the dark Katana into the earth and speak my name and I shall appear but know this, my prince. There is no adversary that Stravos cannot banish but should you need to bestow unimaginable pain upon thy foe, then you have my wrath at your command."

"I shall keep that in mind, Dhaos..." Avatar nodded, "You may leave..."

Dhaos stood to his feet, bowed to both Avatar and Keiara and soon, vanished in a blaze of fire, leaving only the hollow emptiness of the caves to haunt the air.

"I don't understand..." Keiara spoke as they walked towards the exist, "Such power, Avatar. Why didn't I get either of the guardians?"

"Dhaos and Stravos were father's knights, Keiara..." Avatar quickly answered his sister.

"Hah. That explains much, Thank you." the Shin-Ra general grumbled, "You were always father's pride.."

"And you were mother's..." Avatar pointed to the Orion ring Keiara wore on her finger, "You have the power to control every guardian force that walks the universe. Think of what that offers."

"..."

"Dhaos and Stravos are merely fulfilling father's dying wish, Keiara..." Avatar reasoned, "It is not my fault that he chose to bestow me with the protection of his left and right hands..."

"I understand, Avatar..." Keiara nodded as they exited the caves, "But the Fenis guardians, how do they exist here, in this world?"

"There's only one way that must've happened..."

"How?"

"Remember when mother sent us through those portals before she breathed her last...?"

"Yes..."

"I obeyed mother. But you insisted on staying with her. I remember you weren't willing to leave..."

"Yes. I was put under a sleep spell and then, yes, Dhaos and Stravos, they carried me through the portal..."

"Just as I thought. Mother's inter-dimension spell was meant to support only _you _Keiara. Not Dhaos and Stravos."

"So..."

"They were dead once the three of you crossed through. Only you lived."

"But they could not leave the world because their spirits were bound to father's wish - that they protect me as long as I live. So they built these signet stones should we require them and lurked in these walls as undead souls, but still, stronger than ever."

"Ah Yes. It makes sense..." Keiara pondered, "but the dark Katana?"

"Yes.." Avatar nodded, "I think it was initially with Dhaos but when he died, it was probably lying around somewhere outside these caves."

"Someone must've taken it and sold it. It probably changed a lot of hands and it somehow ended up at the saucer..."

"It's a good thing I retrieved the blade from there..." the SeeD replied, "Dhaos would have been harder to tame otherwise..."

"But how did you remove it from it's sheath?" inquired Avatar's sister, "It was-"

"Along the periphery of the sheath, there's a small metal lining that needs to be molten and removed..." he replied, "That's how all the royal Fenis swords were made initially..."

"Hmmm..." Keiara smiled, "Your memory serves us well, Avatar..."

"..."

"Sorry, Avatar..." she apologized, "I-"

"Keiara..." Avatar interrupted, when some other thought entered his mind.

"Yes...?"

"What happened after you crossed over? It was near this very place, wasn't it?" Avatar inquired, "Did you meet a man named Hojo...?"

"How did you-?"

"I went through some of his files..."

"But that's classified-"

"Not after they were in your possession, Keiara..."

"You went through my belongings in HQ?"

"Yes. I read everything.." the ninja admitted.

"Avatar..." Keiara looked scared, "Did you read a-about my other side...?"

"..."

"It was because of Hojo's experiments..."

"Yes... I know..."

"It still exists..."

"Why didn't you tell me about it earlier?"

"I didn't want you to know..."

"If Hojo were alive, Keiara..." Avatar promised, "I wouldn't have rested till every drop of blood from his body was dry..."

"Thank you, Avatar..."

"So once you escaped from his lab... Where did you go...?"

"Coral village. I hid in this cargo airship that left Nibelheim once."

"What then...?"

"After a few months in coral..." Keiara said, as the airship they were in departed to Midgar, "I learnt about my morphing abilities in the most cruelest of manners. One night, I transformed without my knowledge. The demon in me just... couldn't be contained. I had no control over myself once I morphed. I killed a child. The village elder's son. They found out. They had me whipped and turned in, to some Shin-RA soldiers."

"That's how you came to Midgar..."

"Yes. The soldiers sold me to some merchant in the Midgar slums..."

"He abused me..."

"..."

"I killed him too... "

"..."

"As years passed, I finally learned to control the demon within..."

"And finally, you joined Shin-Ra and worked your way up the ladder..."

"Yes... I'm pretty high up the ladder. In fact..." Shin-Ra's first General smiled, "If that clown of a president were to die by some unpredictable circumstance, I am sure I can take the position with no quabbles."

"..."

"The fool seems healthier than most men his age though..."

"I don't think _that _will decide when he dies, Keiara..." Avatar said, casually fixing his eyes on the horizon, "I will..."

* * *

Many days passed and Sifan Leonhart started to wonder about various things. Among them, was a lingering thought about Phillona and her prolonged absence. She had been gone for quite some time and he began to wonder if she was ever coming back. After all, she didn't really have a home ever since the elders at Mideel had forced her out. Moreover, the fact that the people at Cosmo Canyon welcomed her with open arms every time she visited, made it more likely that Cosmo Canyon might become her next residence. Phillona herself had spoken about it a few times with Trex and Marlene.

Sifan heaved a deep sigh, continuing to wonder what lay in store for him; what irritated him the most was the fact that he could not forge his destiny. He was being made to obey one. The only time he didn't resent it was when Phillona was around. Her absence didn't help him. It just didn't.

He was lost in all these thoughts, absent-mindedly fiddling with a chocobo feather on the table when the cottage's door swung open. He lazily lifted his head to see who had entered his room.

The stranger was just about 5 feet tall as he walked into the room, supporting himself on a wooden cane. His long white beard flowed down his chest, his deep sunken eyes were glued firmly on the SeeD. He coughed dryly before he stopped right next to where Sifan was seated. He rubbed his bony jaw as he inspected Sifan from head to toe.

"Oh my..." he said in a feeble little voice, "You're quite young..."

"... Thank you?"

"Ah..." the old man replied, "Sorry about that..."

"..."

"... Well, if you hadn't figured by now..." he continued, his beady eyes still planted on the young Leonhart, "I am called Goshen. And I, my dear son of the lionheart, have most of the answers you're looking for..."

"Finally..." Sifan sighed, "Well, firstly I-"

"Stop there, young one..." Goshen interrupted, raising up his palm, "Soon, my son, Soon, I shall tell you all. Slowly."

"Why not now...?"

"Now, my dear boy..." Goshen blinked, "Your friends need you..."

"What?"

"They strayed too far into the forest..." He said, "Jack and Aura are out, trying to find them..."

"Why didn't they-"

"They didn't tell you because..." the newcomer pointed out, "They think you'll only slow them down since you aren't accustomed to these plains, my lad..."

"I don't care..." Sifan got to his feet, "I can't just sit here..."

"Go then..." Goshen pointed his cane to the door, "Head east to the mushroom forest, past it, you will find a small fire mountain by the name of Duca. Your friends have probably lost themselves inside the mountain since the forest before it is nothing more than a simple, straight forward path. Jack and Aura should still be at the entrance of Mt. Duca if you're lucky. Hurry now."

Just as the SeeD was about to leave, Goshen caught Sifan's arm, "Phillona sent you this..."

Sifan realized at once it was the Shiva materia.

"When is she-"

"She needs to be there for a while..." Goshen assured, "Now hurry. And pray your friends haven't already stumbled into Ifrit's lair inside Duca."

* * *

"Marl!" Trex screamed as a large fireball destroyed the rock he was hiding under, "I told you this was a bad idea! But NO, you just can't listen!"

"Stop bickering so much Trex!" Marlene screamed back, still crouching behind another boulder a few meters away, "And get out of there before he bakes you alive!"

Ifrit's ears stood up the moment he heard human voices. All the random demolition of his surroundings had finally paid off. He'd finally found where his puny adversaries were hiding. He threw another scalding ball of fire at the same place, hoping to directly scorch his target this time. But after the dust settled down, the only thing the fire guardian saw was scattered debris. There was no sign of blackened human corpses.

"None of this would've happened if you had a damn sense of direction!" Trex hissed as he rolled into a small gap on the rocky mountain wall, right next to Marlene, concealing himself from Ifrit's view.

Ifrit let out another menacing holler when he realized he had lost the humans again. He flew into the sky to get a better view of where his tiny opponents might be hiding. His eyes noticed a slight movement behind a boulder and at once, his nostrils blew smoke. But before he could make his move, a powerful comet smashed into his backside in mid-air, sending the beast crashing to the ground. The fire aeon roared in pain and anger. He spun around, his eyes burning with fury, hoping to immediately annihilate the spell caster.

"Ah... Yes, the name's Aura..." the blonde girl smiled, "Remember it, babe..."

Ifrit roared and romped across the open space directly towards Aura, forming another ball of fire in his hands. But as soon as he had crossed a large boulder, Jack Shinobis sprung out from behind it and leapt on to Ifrit's shoulder with a loud grunt.

"This time, you're dead..." Jack screamed, raising his sword to bury it but once again the beast caught his leg and flung him away violently. To make matters worse, Jack flew across the air and directly landed on Aura, at once breaking her second comet spell. The mis-concentration caused her to release the spell in an unintended direction.

Marlene and Trex's last cover was blown to smithereens by the large comet. The gunslinger realized how lucky he was to be alive and so did Marlene but their gratitude quickly disappeared when they saw Ifrit head directly towards them. Marlene tried to quickly cast a haste spell on Trex but Ifrit allowed no time. He picked up a huge rock and Marlene knew her only option was to run. Trex suddenly lit up and reloaded his gun, his mind visibly hatching some uncanny plot.

"Marl!" he screamed, "Run across Ifrit!"

"What!? Are you ma-"

"Just do it! Trust me!"

Marlene shot Trex a drop-dead look but did as she was told. She bolted across Ifrit, right under his nose, a move that the fire esper certainly didn't expect. He spun around towards the direction in which Marlene had just run, raising the boulder over his head hoping to crush her to pieces.

The moment he turned his back to Trex, the gunslinger aimed his shotgun at Ifrit's knees.

"Here goes nothing." Trex said and fired his gun with all his might.

Ifrit let out a painful scream, letting go of the giant rock over his heads. The pain caused by the bullet tearing his tendons was simply too much for the beast to bear. He sank to his knees, continuing to roar in anger.

Aura hurriedly shook herself out of the dizziness and pushed aside Jack's unconscious body gently. She got up and with hazy eyes, noticed that Ifrit was on his knees. She cast a powerful float spell on the giant boulder next to Ifrit. After immense concentration, she lifted the rock high over the beast's head and released the spell. She quickly cast a dispel spell on the rock almost immediately. The boulder crashed on Ifrit's head and broke into a thousand pieces, sending the beast into even more pain. Aura readied another comet spell as Trex continued to shoot at Ifrit's knee and Marlene pounded the aeon with repeated blizzard spells.

But Ifrit was still standing and none of them knew where the finishing blow would come from.

In the seconds that followed, as if to answer their problem, the wind turned icy cold and materializing into the air in front of them, was the ice esper known as Shiva.

* * *

It was the same story every night. The soldiers and their desire to see Sephiroth suffer just seemed endless. They dragged his body back to the bunkers every night, tortured him till they felt sleepy and then returned the Ex-SOLDIER's limp body back in to Lorenz's lab. It was no more about revenge. Now, it was just about 'fun'. Watching him scream in unbearable agony and seeing the bloody stains of the whip lashes was something they had to see if they wanted to sleep well at night.

It was a pale moonless night when the Shin-Ra soldiers dragged Sephiroth's out of the torture machine. They had almost carried his hapless body to the exit when one of them interrupted.

"You know what, fellas?" He grinned maliciously, "I was thinking, we still haven't tried that new atomic charger they brought in from Junon last week. Why don't we-"

"Are you mad, we-" Started another soldier but he was quickly interrupted by the Shin-Ra trooper.

"Well..." The trooper started, "I've been thinking we better put an end to this silly game. We've had our fun. Now let's just hope this sad son of a bitch burns in hell whenever he dies. But. What better way than to end our 'friendship' with our silver-haired friend here than treating him to an amazing session inside the atomic charger!"

Most of the soldiers nodded in agreement with glee, although a few random faces didn't look too happy with the idea.

It didn't take too long for the soldiers to secure an entry into the underground research lab where Shin-Ra's atomic charger had been installed. Not many people had clearance into it but within Shin-Ra, it was never really a problem to grab hold of a security card if one knew where to look.

Within minutes, the research lab was alive with the anxious buzzing of bloodthirsty soldiers. The atomic charger whirred into life as the they placed Sephiroth inside the huge cylindrical glass structure. The vents on the top and bottom opened up and soon, a high frequency whizzing sound filled the air.

The Shin-Ra trooper looked on as his compatriots put the electronic locks in to place. He eagerly looked at Sephiroth's limp body. He was never going to forgive him for how he had humiliated and killed both his brothers in the Gondola village. The fact that they were the ones at wrong didn't seem to bother him. As far as he cared, his thirst for seeing Sephiroth pay would never be quenched. But watching him yell in pain night after night was more of a comfort to him than he realized. And what better way to end it than plant him in the most grueling torture machine of them all. The atomic charger was originally a failed experiment conducted at Junon for purifying materia by altering it's molecule chains. The trooper didn't know any of that 'mumbo jumbo' as he would often refer to science. All he knew was, if he put a human inside, it literally caused agonizing cerebral damage that had driven many a Shin-Ra torture subject mad.

"Lorenz will never find out." He said, "Start up the machine. We're treating our little savior of the innocent to a little brain damage..."

Little did he and his faithful group of soldiers know that they were minutes from releasing the greatest evil to ever walk the planet...

* * *

A/N: Please Review. Will do my best to get the next update up fast. 


	17. Anybody out there?

Hello All.

I know I disappeared for a long time. 8 years almost to be precise. A lot of you guys have probably grown up and stuff. But if there are any of you out there who are still interested in this, I am willing to resurrect it again. It will take some time but is there anybody out there? Please give me a shout in the review section.

Yours Truly,

Loneflame.


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